FIRING LINE: What now, PhilHealth?

By Robert B. Roque, Jr.

Now that the mid-term elections are over and done with, it would be most fitting to recall that one of the dominant issues surrounding the decision-making of the electorate was healthcare. 

And interestingly so, many hospitals are now on edge, saddled with over P7 billion in unpaid bills tied to medical guarantees made by candidates — many of whom just lost. When healthcare becomes a campaign currency, it’s no wonder hospitals are left chasing the bets that didn’t win.

This is the problem, when our geniuses in Congress systematically transforms healthcare into favor that depends on political fortunes. It should be emphasized that this issue already is an established legal mandate under the Universal Health Care Act.

But today, it is being gutted from the inside by the very institutions sworn to protect it. The government not only zeroed out PhilHealth’s 2025 budget — it raided its coffers of P89.9 billion, funds specifically earmarked by law for health services through sin tax revenues. That money has now been rerouted into the opaque, corruption-prone realm of pork-barrel politics.

For some reason — the public can only speculate on — a buried provision in the 2024 General Appropriations Act and a Department of Finance memorandum claimed authority to sweep up “unused” funds from GOCCs. Yup, that included PhilHealth’s funds for purely being available.

But even as idle funds, these were protected by law, ring-fenced for a purpose of covering two years of the state health insurance’s probable budget exposure. Congress and our chief resident in the Palace should not have overridden these existing statutes with backdoor memos and expect to walk away with public trust intact.

Last week, when President Marcos had an epiphany — whether real or staged — on the integrity and efficiency at work of his entire Cabinet, the mention of healthcare should have been front and center.

The Supreme Court has already issued a temporary restraining order on the last tranche of transfers. But the delay in deciding the case only prolongs the bleeding. This is a moment that demands resolve. The Court must rule and rule decisively: return the funds, uphold the law, and stop this systematic sabotage of state-backed healthcare.

Healthcare is not a partisan prize. It is a public right. And it’s time both Malacañang and the Court acted like they remember that.

*         *         *

SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View. Read current and past issues of this column at https://www.thephilbiznews.com