Sen. Christopher ‘’Bong’’ Go disclosed Thursday that he would discuss with President Duterte the possibility of the national government infusing funds into the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) as Filipinos suffer from the effects of COVID-19.

Go, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, said he is studying other means of deferring the scheduled increase in PhilHealth monthly contributions while the COVID-19 pandemic still grips the country.

He recalled that Duterte last May thought of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) being made to pay their remittances on a voluntary basis.

‘’I recognize that this increase is mandated by the UHC (Universal Health Care) law, pinasa po ito ng both houses of Congress (This was passed by both Houses of Congress), and is necessary to sustain the services of PhilHealth para sa Universal Health Care,’’ he said.

‘’Pero may pandemya tayo ngayon at napakahirap pigain ang mga Pilipino na madagdagan pa ng 0.5 percent dito sa babayaran nila (But there is a pandemic right now and it is difficult to collect from Filipinos the added 0.5 percent increase in their contributions),’’ he said.

The increase in PhilHealth contributions starts this year.

‘’Naiintindihan ko ang mga kababayan natin. Huwag nating dagdagan ang kanilang mga pasanin (I understand our countrymen. Let us not add to their burden the increased contributions),’’ Go said.

Go stated that Congress could pass a Bayanihan 3 measure where government could identify what could be deferred during the pandemic.

‘’Tulungan natin ang ating mga kababayan, lalong-lalo na po ang mga OFWs natin, mga walang pambayad, o ‘yung mga nawalan po ng mga trabaho – kawawa naman po. Wala na nga silang trabaho, tapos sisingilin pa natin (Let us help our countrymen, particularly the OFWs who have no means to pay or became jobless. They are a sorry lot. They do not have work and yet we ask them to pay),’’ he said.

‘’I will personally appeal to the President na kung maaari, government na lang po ang mag-infuse or mag-augment later on kung saka-sakaling kukulangin ang pera ng PhilHealth (I will personally appeal to the President that government should infuse funds or augment the meager resources of PhilHealth),’’ Go said.

‘’We cannot afford also na masakripisyo itong UHC natin dahil lahat ng Pilipino ay miyembro ng PhilHealth sa ilalim ng Universal Health Care Law. Ayaw nating umabot sa punto na wala nang pambayad ang PhilHealth (We cannot afford to sacrifice UHC because every Filipino is a member under the UHC law. We don’t want to see the day that PhilHealth would have no more funds).’’

‘’Dapat ang gobyerno ang sumalo nito, lalung-lalo na sa mga kapatid nating mahihirap na walang pambayad. Mag-aapela po ako kay Pangulong Duterte mamaya, kakausapin ko rin siya tungkol dito (The government should shoulder this even as our countrymen are financially hard up. I will talk to the President later and bring the matter to him),’’ he added.