Nothing illegal in itemizing HFEP funds post-budget ratification, Andaya insists

House Committee on Appropriations chair Rolando Andaya on Wednesday insisted that there is nothing illegal in the act of the House of Representatives of itemizing the "lump sum" Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) funds after the ratification of the 2019 national budget.

Andaya made the remark after Senator Panfilo Lacson accused Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of allotting P25 million for the HFEP funds of each of the districts of lawmakers who elected her as Speaker in July last year.

At a press conference, Andaya explained that what they did was only to itemize the said lump sum funds and identify to which hospitals they will be allocated.

He pointed out that the bicam-approved version of the proposed General Appropriations Act, which both house of Congress have ratified, only states that P15 billion was allotted for the HFEP, to which the House of Representatives has a share of P4.5 billion, the Senate with P2 billion, and the Department of Health (DOH) Central Office with P8.5 billion.

It does not state, however, how these funds would be allocated to each district or to each health facility.

"If it is merely a lump sum, then how will we distribute it to the different hospitals, how will we now give meaning sa universal healthcare kung hindi natin i-distribute sa iba't ibang hospitals?" Andaya said.

"It now behooves both houses to identify kung saan pupunta ang mga pondong ito. The Senate has done that and we have also done that, so there is nothing illegal or surprising that happened," he added.

In his statement, Lacson alleged that while each Arroyo ally got P25 million for their respective constituents, she allocated only P8 million for the districts of House members who did not support her election as Speaker.

This act, Lacson said, "smacks of grave abuse of discretion on the part of Speaker Arroyo, not to mention a clear violation of the 1987 Constitution."

But Andaya pointed out that when the DOH's budget proposal was presented to the House during the budget deliberations, there was no allocation for the HFEP of each legislative district.

"So I think you should look at it the other way around, nagkaroon nga lahat imbes na naging zero nagkaroon nga lahat," Andaya said.

"So we actually did our job in trying to make healthcare accessible to everyone hindi yung sa pinili lang," he added.

Andaya clarified, however, that legislative district will not receive equal allocations for the HFEP as it will depend on their need and priorities.

"May lugar na walang district hospital, may lugar na walang national hospital, so it would be dependent on the need of the place, bibigyan mo ng amount wala namang paglalagyan," he said.

Andaya is intending to have the proposed GAA submitted to Malacañang by next week for signing of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Earlier in the day, Arroyo was also asked by reporters to comment on the issue, but she declined to do so, saying that Andaya already made a statement. — RSJ, GMA News