I write in reaction to the news article titled “Subsidy to state firms down 38% in January-April” (Business, Inquirer, 6/3/13). The report noted that despite the decrease in the total percentage of subsidies given to state firms, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) received a subsidy of P1.1 billion in the first four months of 2013, the second biggest slice of the government’s subsidy budget after the P1.6 billion granted to the National Housing Authority.
To dispel any doubt in the mind of the public as to NKTI’s subsidy, which is admittedly relatively large compared to the subsidy given to other GOCC (government-owned and -controlled corporation) hospitals, we would like to clarify that the lion’s share of this subsidy (P978.4 million) is to be spent for the acquisition of an NHA-owned land where the NKTI is situated.
In 1984, under Proclamation 2381, the NKTI was granted rights over a 58,599-square-meter parcel of land situated at the National Government Center owned by the NHA. For almost 30 years, the NKTI had been unsuccessfully negotiating with the NHA for the transfer of the title to this land. The above-mentioned subsidy to the NKTI will be primarily used for initial payment for portions of the land, which were subjected to public bidding by the NHA in September 2012. The negotiation for a “compromise agreement” with the NHA was held on Dec. 12, 2012, with interventions and guidance from the Department of Health, the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Finance, and the National Economic and Development Authority. In that negotiation, both parties agreed that the NKTI shall buy the land from the NHA at P40,000 per square meter (or for a total of P2.2 billion for the entire property)—the purchase money to be funded by the national government because of the limited funds of the NKTI.
This way, the NKTI and the NHA will arrive at a win-win scenario, with both of them placed in a better position to fulfill their respective mandates: the NKTI owning the land and preventing its future disposition to private entities, and able to continue providing quality healthcare; and at the same time, the NHA enabled to implement more socialized housing projects. In the end, it is the Filipino people who will greatly benefit from these disbursements of the national government.
At present, the NKTI and the NHA are finalizing the payment and the transfer of the title to the land. It has been agreed that the subsidy for the rest of the land area will be released later so as not to strain the national budget excessively.
—JOSE DANTE P. DATOR, MD,
OIC-executive director,
National Kidney and
Transplant Institute,
East Avenue, Diliman, QC