AMID the reduction of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) 2025 budget, health advocates on Wednesday inquired where the government has allocated the sin tax revenues earmarked for the people’s health-care system.
“To our right to health or to beg for health?” the group asked.
During the weekly Pandesal Forum at the Kamuning Bakery in Quezon City, Dr. Juan Antonio Perez III, an ex-undersecretary and executive director of the Commission on Population and Development, said the budget slash for PhilHealth would badly affect its members.
“Defunding social health insurance is the solution to PhilHealth’s issues. By redirecting healthcare funds to theMedical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program or ‘pagmamakaawa,’ the government has just reinforced the notion of begging for healthcare from the politicians,” he said.
“It benefits the politicians more than the patients,” he added.
Under the National Expenditure Program for 2025, PhilHealth requested a P150 -billion budget to cover the premiums of 25.28 million indirect contributors.
However, the House of Representatives and the Department of Budget and Management appropriated only P53.26 billion worth of premiums to cover14 million indirect contributors only.
Instead of allocating funds for PhilHealth, Congress prioritized MAIFIP.
The group branded the system as a way for politicians to exercise patronage politics.
PhilHealth has not been receiving the entirety of its shares of tobacco and sweetened beverage taxes.
The sin tax reform law or Republic Act 11346 mandates that 80 percent of 50 percent of the total revenue from tobacco and sweetened beverages shall be allocated to
PhilHealth to implement the Universal Healthcare Act.
