Duque: Reenacted budget will hurt COVID-19 response

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III warned on Friday that reenacting the 2021 budget would severely impact the country’s COVID-19 response.

Duque made the statement during a Senate hearing on the Department of Health's proposed P203 billion budget for next year, which is 27% higher than this year’s allocation.

He stressed that the DOH needs more funds to address the pandemic and acquire vaccines, emphasizing that sacrificing other projects would create new public health issues.