Senators find it unnecessary to grant the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.’s (PhilHealth) request for additional subsidy under their proposed budget for next year when it has yet to provide sufficient financial relief to patients.

Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, principal sponsor and author of the Universal Healthcare Act, voiced his frustration over the unspent P89-billion of PhilHealth, asking why these excess funds have not yet been used to ease the burden of healthcare costs for the public.

Ejercito voiced his firm stand during the Senate’s interpellation on the Department of Health’s (DOH) 2025 proposed budget. He pointed out the P89-billion have not yet been used to ease the burden of healthcare costs for the public.

“We felt we were deceived. We fought hard to secure more funding for healthcare, only to learn that billions remain unused. Sana nagagamit na ito ng taumbayan (These could have been used by the people),” Ejercito said.

DOH data also revealed that PhilHealth contributed only 13.6 percent to the nation’s total health spending in 2022.

Ejercito said it is clear there is an apparent mismatch between PhilHealth’s financial health and its service to the public.

“Our aim with the Universal Healthcare Law was to make quality healthcare accessible to all Filipinos, removing the need for people to seek support from other agencies or politicians. But the reality is, many are still forced to do just that.”

Ejercito said it is imperative for PhilHealth to fulfill its mandate under the Universal Healthcare Law and provide genuine support to Filipinos in need.

“We should be proactive…It’s easy to feel comfortable in our offices, pero may mga kababayan tayong hindi makabayad at halos mamamatay na sa laki ng hospital bills. Hindi na sila makakahintay (but we have people who can’t pay and almost die due to the huge hospital bills. They can’t wait),” he said.

“PhilHealth may look good on paper with its financial reserves, but this is not a private corporation. In public service, funds for social welfare are used fully. Any unused funds signify failure—not success,” he emphasized.

“It’s time PhilHealth acts for the people, prioritizing the well-being of Filipinos over financial figures,” Ejercito stressed.

Sen. Christopher "Bong" Go, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health, also reiterated his strong opposition to increasing PhilHealth’s subsidy for 2025.

Go argued that it would be "unfair" to allocate more funds to PhilHealth while substantial unutilized reserves remain in the agency’s coffers.

"Uulitin ko po ang ilang buwan na nating sinasabi: Unfair naman kung tataasan pa ang subsidy sa kabila ng sobra-sobrang pondo na mayroon ang PhilHealth, habang patuloy ang paghihirap ng mga kababayan nating naghihingalo sa pagbabayad ng kanilang medical bills (I will repeat what we have been saying for several months: It is unfair if the subsidy is increased despite the excessive funds that PhilHealth has, while our dying compatriots continue to suffer in paying their medical bills),” Go said.

Give PhilHealth’s subsidy to DOH

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, meanwhile suggested that instead of granting PhilHealth’s request for government subsidy, the fund should be given to the health programs of the DOH.

In a press briefing, on Wednesday, Escudero said it is best to channel the funds for use for other DOH programs so that it would “still be used for health but not for PhilHealth.”

“They (PhilHealth) don't even use their money, so why add more to increase the money that will just be hidden in their pockets and not used? That doesn't seem like a fair and judicious use of the government's funds and fiscal space,” he pointed out.

‘Disrespectful’

Senators, during the deliberation on PhilHealth’s project on Tuesday night, got irked at PhilHealth President and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. over his “disrespectful” way of answering senators’ query regarding their budget vis-a-vis the agency’s performance.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada warned the PhilHealth chief that the Upper Chamber may opt to defer approval of their budget.

“It has come to my attention that there is a head of agency who answers disrespectfully in answering questions of the senators and I would like to warn all those heads of the agencies concerned to be respectful in answering questions coming from the senators,” Estrada warned.

“We can defer your budget. We've done that before and we can do that again. And this warning goes to all heads of agencies concerned,” he pointed out.

Prior to his warning, Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino and Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian had already reprimanded Ledesma to respond in a respectful manner.

This was after senators suspended the rules to allow Ledesma to respond directly to the questions raised during the plenary deliberations of the PhilHealth budget.

“May I remind our resource person, especially since we have suspended the rules, to temper the responses with an iota of humility and perhaps answer correctly the questions being propounded by a member of this chamber so that we can have a semblance of sincere discussions here, engagement, with a member of this chamber,” Tolentino said.

“May I remind the president of PhilHealth, the resource person to please answer the question with respect and also to temper his voice because Senator JV has been very fair in his questioning and may I remind the resource person to answer the questions directly without any insinuation of disrespect,” Gatchalian seconded Tolentino’s manifestation.

Ledesma, later on, apologized to the senators, but said he finds it also unfair that he is taking all the blame when under his leadership, the state health insurance agency has become "aggressive" in addressing the concerns plaguing PhilHealth.

According to Ledesma, he is also not proud that PhilHealth has a billion worth of cash reserve.

“But at the same time, parang mali rin ata (I think it’s also wrong) to pin the blame fully on me. Why? Kasi again uulitin ko po, itong pera na ‘to, (Because again, this money) this was piling up through the years... this all accumulated through a long period of time...So I think it’s wrong to point the finger at me," Ledesma said.

In a separate text message, Ejercito said he and other senators felt offended with the way the PhilHealth chief answered questions.

“May pagka presko! Bordering on bastos,” Ejercito said.