The rank-and-file union of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has opposed the idea of President Duterte to either privatize or abolish the agency.
The PhilHealth Workers for Hope, Integrity, Transparency and Empowerment (PhilHealth WHITE) said they are not in favor of the idea because it will put the Filipinos who benefit from the national health insurance program to a "clear disadvantage."
"Abolition or privatization of PhilHealth both places the Filipino people at a clear disadvantage. It is like a government turning away from its constitutional responsibility to protect general welfare," the group said in a statement.
"The obligation of the State to progressively realize Universal Health Care runs in the same vein as the constitutional decree to protect and promote the right to health of all Filipinos," it said.
The group said that "giving up on PhilHealth is analogous to giving up on the Filipino people."
It also added that privatizing PhilHealth might affect the services for poor Filipinos.
"Social health insurance, as the term connotes, requires that the underprivileged are no longer burdened by the financial handicap in accessing their basic right to health," the group said.
"It ensures that the cost of providing health services do not put people at the risk of financial inferiority. The peculiarities of Social Health Insurance set clear distinction between public service and service for profit," it added.
Instead, the group said that the newly appointed PhilHealth chief, president Dante Gierran, should be given a chance to fulfill his duty.
"Let us give the new PCEO Atty. Dante Gierran sufficient time to study and appreciate the value of the National Health Insurance Program," it said.
The PhilHealth WHITE said that they support President Duterte in his effort to investigate alleged corrupt practices in the agency.
"We share the sentiment of the President and have been vocal about our desire to clear the organization of the rotten eggs that may put to waste the years we have labored in pushing forward reforms to health care," it said.