Fiesta Pavilion, Manila Hotel
23 June 2016


President Benigno S. Aquino III underscored the importance of universal healthcare and quality health services for the Filipino people, saying it has always been his mandate to safeguard the well being of the nation.

As he graced the 118th anniversary of the Department of Health (DOH), the President reported on the major changes in the agency since he assumed office in 2010, especially among its health programs.

The budget of DOH totaled to PhP 123.5 billion this year compared to its PhP 28.7 billion budget allocation in 2010. Such increase was used to improve the coverage rate of PhilHealth, where from 51 percent, it soared to 92 percent this year, which is equivalent to 101.45 million Filipino beneficiaries.

On the health facilities and equipment, President Aquino reported that additional healthcare services were built under the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) from 2010 up to 2014. These include 2,862 barangay health stations, 2,626 rural health units and urban health centers, 685 local government unit (LGU) hospitals, 70 DOH hospitals, and 14 other hospitals across the country.

He also mentioned about the initiative of sending more health workers to low-lying communities in the country. From 2010, the government was able to deploy 2,680 doctors and 15,407 midwives. As such, 93,174 nurses were employed from 2011, and 459 dentists, 454 medical technologists and 1,592 public health associates were engaged in 2015.

President Aquino expressed his contentment on the achievements of DOH for the past six years. He said that it has always been a privilege to serve the nation through the health department, saying he is confident that he will leave a healthier and peaceful country before he steps down from office.

“Talagang iiwan ko ang Pilipinas na di hamak na mas maganda kaysa sa dinatnan. Totoong maipapamana natin sa susunod na henerasyon ang isang bansang mas maunlad at mas masigla,” the President said.

*  *  *