SECRETARY Paulyn Ubial on Monday clarified reports the Department of Health budget for 2017 had been slashed.

“The DOH budget will in fact be higher than the Defense budget for the first time in Philippine history,” Ubial said in a statement.

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The DOH budget in 2016 was P122.63 billion, while the proposed budget for 2017 is P90.9 billion.

But in 2016, Ubial explained, the PhilHealth subsidy for premium payments for indigent families and senior citizens was included in the DOH budget while in the proposed budget for 2017 this was set apart.

“Thus, if we add the PhilHealth budget, the proposed DOH budget for 2017 would total P141.02 billion, or an increase of 15 percent actually,” she said.

Ubial was in Lima, Peru, over the weekend for the 6th Apec High Level Meeting of Health Ministers. Tina G. Santos

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