PhilHealth fund transfer questioned
A PROPOSAL to transfer P90 billion in excess funds from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to the National Government may be subject to abuse and corruption, a labor leader said.
“Any ordinary worker would struggle to understand why PhilHealth holds P500 billion in massive reserves while providing minimal benefits,” Jose Sonny G. Matula, chairman of Nagkaisa Labor Coalition, told BusinessWorld on Saturday
“It’s especially infuriating that this happened despite PhilHealth having a huge reserve. Worse, it happened right after PhilHealth increased the premium from 4% to 5% this year, even as many workers were barely surviving on poverty wages,” he added.
Plaintiffs led by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Martin “Koko” D. Pimentel III on Friday asked the Supreme Court to stop the transfer of the PhilHealth funds to the National Government and void a Finance department circular allowing it.
“Legal due diligence was exercised through coordination with the Governance Commission of GOCCs, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel and the Commission on Audit (CoA), all of which have issued a favorable opinion on its legality,” Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto said in a statement last week.
“The main argument of the government is that these are ‘sleeping’ funds that incur substantial opportunity costs if left unused,” Leonardo A. Lanzona, an economics professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “This argument works depending on where it is used.” — Chloe Mari A. Hufana