MANILA – There are sufficient funds to provide for the production of test kits for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as this will be provided for by the Office of the President (OP), Malacañang said Sunday.
According to Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, the OP will provide the funds needed by the Departments of Health (DOH), Science and Technology (DOST) and University of the Philippines Manila.
“We wish to assure our countrymen that the Office of the President is providing the needed funds of the DOH, DOST and UP Manila’s National Institutes of Health in the production of the diagnostic kits for the COVID 19 tests,” he said.
For the meantime, Malacañang said Manila Healthtek is prepared to produce more to respond to the “present crisis.”
The OP, under the 2020 general appropriations act, was allocated a budget of P8.201 billion this year, of which over 80 percent will go to maintenance and other operating expenses. (GMA News)
