“BETTER late than never.”

This was what former tourism secretary and Cebu gubernatorial candidate Joseph “Ace” Durano said when the current administration of the Cebu Provincial Government announced that it will propose a P6.3 billion budget for health for its 2022 annual budget.

In a statement, Durano said the Capitol is finally following the Davide formula in the budget allocation for 2022, referring to how immediate past governor and now Vice Gov. Hilario “Junjun” Davide III prioritized health in his programs.

Davide is Durano’s runningmate in the 2022 polls.

Durano also hopes that Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia will also consider the welfare of the Province’s barangay health workers when it finalizes its budget for next year.

“This should have been done two years ago. As the saying goes, better late than never. Pero kuwang pa ni kay ang paghatag ug saktong proteksyon sa panglawas sa atong mga kaigsuonan mag sugod sa atong mga barangay health units,” Durano said.

For 2022, Capitol announced that it would allocate P6.3 billion of the total P18 billion budget--or 35 percent--for health-related services, a stark improvement from this year’s allocation when only P2.6 billion of the P15 billion--or 17 percent--was allocated for health.

Durano said the increase of the budget allocation for health to 35 percent shows that Garcia is finally making health a priority two years into the pandemic.

Durano said that under the previous administration, health was a priority and the budget allocation reflected that.

In 2019 when Davide last served as governor, P1.48 billion of the total P4.6 billion budget was allocated for health.

That went down to 13 percent in 2021, when the Capitol allocated P2.6 billion of its total P15 billion budget for health. (with PR)