Government’s Military Bias
AFP Hospital Budget Bigger than that of Four Other Health Institutes

Underscoring how the government treats unevenly its military priorities and social services, the budget of the AFP Medical Center continues to surpass that of four other major state hospitals combined.

By Alexander Martin Remollino
Bulatlat.com

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Medical Center has a budget bigger than that of four other government health institutions combined.

Based on the proposed National Expenditures Program of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for Financial Year (FY) 2004, the AFP Medical Center will receive some Php787.2 million in budgetary allocations for next year. In 2002, it received a Php788.8-million budget, while its 2003 budget amounts to Php773.6 million.

The AFP Medical Center’s budget for each of these years surpasses the combined budgets of four other government hospitals—the Lung Center of the Philippines, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, the Philippine Children’s Medical Center, and the Philippine Institute for Traditional and Alternative Medicine—for the same years.

The Lung Center received Php209.1 million in 2002. Its 2003 budget amounts to Php185.5 million, and it will be allocated the same amount in 2004.

The National Kidney and Transplant Institute got some Php186.4 million in 2002. It has a Php185-million appropriation for 2003 and will be given the same amount in 2004.

The Philippine Children’s Medical Center was given Php211 million in 2002. For 2003 it has Php211.5 million in budgetary allocations, and in 2004 will receive Php226 million.

The Philippine Institute for Traditional and Alternative Health Care had a 2002 budget of Php96 million. For 2003, it has a budget of Php80 million, and will be allocated the same amount next year.

Putting together the figures for the four non-military government health institutes (henceforth referred to as the 4 NMGHI group), one finds that in 2002 they had a combined budget of Php702.5 million, in 2003 they have a combined budget of Php662 million, and in 2004 will receive a combined budget of Php676.5 million.

AFPMC-VMMC

The Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC), on the other hand, has been receiving comparatively less than the AFP Medical Center, but nonetheless also an overwhelmingly big chunk of the health budget pie.

In 2002, it received some Php561.4 million in budget appropriations, equivalent to 80 percent of the 2002 total for the 4 NMGHI group. For 2003 it has a budget of Php576.5 million (equivalent to 87 percent of the 2003 total for the 4 NMGHI group), and in 2004 will get some Php553.9 million (equivalent to 82 percent of the 2004 total for the 4 NMGHI group).

The AFPMC-VMMC duo received a total of Php1.3502 billion in combined budgetary appropriations for 2002. For 2003, their budgets add up to Php1.3501 billion, and next year they will receive a total of Php1.3411 billion.

For the years 2002, 2003, and 2004, the AFPMC-VMMC duo has an average combined budget of Php1.35 billion. In contrast, the 4 NMGHI group has, for the same years, an average combined budget of Php680.3 million, or barely over half of the AFP-VMMC average.

Budgetary discrepancy

The gap between the budget of the 4 NMGHI group and that of the AFPMC-VMMC duo, however, is but a reflection of the chronic budgetary discrepancy in the National Expenditures Program.

Together with debt service (both interest and principal amortization), the defense budget has one of the highest growth rates in the national government’s expenditure program. The proposed 2004 budget seeks to allocate a total of Php40 billion ($2.5 billion) to the military.

Based on a recent presentation by the DBM to the House of Representatives, from 2002 to 2003 debt interest payment grew by 24.1 percent and principal debt amortization grew by 13.3 percent, while the defense budget grew by 4.4 percent. In 2004, debt interest payment will go up by 17.7 percent (P271.50 billion) from the 2003 allocation, principal debt amortization by 38.8 percent, and the defense budget will stretch by 6.4 percent.

In contrast, appropriations for social services increased by only 2.2 percent from 2002 to 2003, and in 2004 will even decrease by five percent from the 2003 appropriation.

Thus, while the Philippine government will be spending about Php109,589,041 everyday for defense in 2004, it will be spending only Php0.43 per person for health and P9.40 for each public elementary and high school student—daily.

Virtual destitution

The Philippines’ defense budget continuously increases as each year, top military officials demand bigger and bigger shares of the budget pie.

Curiously, however, the common soldier appears to be ever enduring a state of virtual destitution.

Last July 27, some 300 young soldiers, including 70 junior officers of whom the five most visible were heavily bemedalled leaders (two of whom graduated with high honors from the Philippine Military Academy or PMA) staged an armed protest action at the Oakwood hotel in Makati City. Among their grievances was corruption in the military. One of their leaders, Navy Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV (magna cum laude, PMA Class 1995), had exposed no less than nine corruption cases in his own service branch as a graduate student at the University of the Philippines in school year 2001-02.

Many of the soldiers who took part in the armed protest action spoke of literally being forced to fight in the fields with hole-ridden combat boots.

Capt. Milo Maestrecampo, one of the soldier-protesters’ leaders, repeatedly spoke of his men who died from battle wounds for lack of proper medical attention.

Former Army Capt. Rene Jarque, in various forums on military corruption, has also repeatedly called attention to symptoms of military corruption: “Poor hospitals and medical facilities, poor maintenance of buildings and equipment, cramped housing for soldiers, unflyable planes and unsailable vessels, no first aids to soldiers in the fields, lack of ammunition—all these point to something inherently wrong with the state of the AFP and points to a need for reform,” he said in a talk delivered last August.

In his talk, Jarque also described the AFP Medical Center as “rotting away.” This, despite the fact that it has consistently received a higher budget than the 4 NMGHI group.

As an army official, Jarque repeatedly came under fire from his superiors for his efforts at exposing military corruption.

The military rank and file are known to live in dilapidated structures that can hardly pass as houses, such as those that can usually be seen in military reservation areas in Makati City. In contrast, generals usually enjoy all the amenities of mansions in such first-class villages as Corinthian Gardens.  To the generals and other senior officials also go a big chunk of the defense budget in salaries.

The grievances of the Oakwood soldier-protesters have been affirmed as legitimate by no less than the Feliciano Commission, a government body which investigated the July 27 event.

In a subsequent talk delivered last Nov. 16, Jarque said that he was partly glad about the Fact-Finding Report of the Feliciano Commission, “Glad because the many things that I have been saying all these years are now officially confirmed and have found its way into the public mind.”

He however scored the Commission for coming out with a “very shallow” report and not striking at the roots of corruption in the military. “It merely looked at the trees and not at the forest,” he said. “It failed to look at the root of the problem in the AFP which is the professional and moral bankruptcy of the AFP Officer Corps on whose shoulders lay the blame for the wretched and dishonorable state of the AFP today. It fails to apply the principle of ‘command responsibility’ on the president, who as commander-in-chief is ultimately responsible for the failure of the AFP to reform.” Bulatlat.com

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