Bong Go slams removal of PhilHealth’s P74B subsidy as ‘anti-poor’
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Bong Go reiterated his disapproval of the bicameral conference committee’s decision to scrap the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) P74 billion subsidy for next year, calling the move “anti-poor.”
Go aired his disapproval in a statement, noting that the move was “unacceptable” even if PhilHealth has a whopping P600 billion in reserve funds.
“Paano tuluyang maeexpand ang benefits ng PhilHealth para sa Pilipino kung ni piso ay walang ibibigay na subsidy ang gobyerno para dito?” Go asked.
(How can PhilHealth benefits be expanded for Filipinos if the government does not provide a single peso in subsidy for this?)
READ: PhilHealth’s zero subsidy for 2025 an insult to members
“Ipinaglalaban nga natin na gamitin dapat ng Philhealth nang tama ang pondong mayroon sila ngunit bilang mga mambabatas, suportahan rin natin ang hangaring ito sa pamamagitan ng pagsigurong mapupunta sa health ang pondo na para naman talaga sa health na naaayon naman sa batas! Hindi dapat ito mapunta sa ibang pag gagamitan,” he added.
(We are fighting to ensure that PhilHealth uses its funds properly, but as lawmakers, we should also support this goal by ensuring that funds meant for health are spent on health as mandated by law! These funds should not be diverted to other uses.)
The senator then emphasized that under the Universal Health Care law, the government shall do its best to lower the medical bills of Filipinos.
“Malayong malayo pa po tayo sa hangaring ito at baka lalo pa tayong aatras dahil sa zero budget ng PhilHealth,” he said.
(We are still far from this goal and we may fall further behind because of PhilHealth’s zero budget.)
Earlier, Senate President Chiz Escudero justified the committee’s decision to scrap PhilHealth’s subsidy for 2025, explaining that it was an effect of the corporation’s failure to do its mandate.
The Senate chief said the incident should be a wake-up call for PhilHealth in order to do better.
