Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said on Sunday, December 15 he will call for an oversight committee hearing on the status of the Universal Health Care (UHC) law and check if it has achieved its goal of providing all Filipinos access to affordable and quality health care.

Ejercito, who pushed for the passage of the Universal Health Care Act, made the remark after the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) received a zero budget subsidy in the 2025 national budget.

Under the law, PhilHealth is the primary agency tasked to carry out and implement the provisions of the UHC law.

“I will call for an oversight committee hearing on the implementation of the UHC. Tignan natin saan nagkulang, nagkamali dahil target nito na maramdaman ng lahat. Ang Philhealth nagkulang sa papel sa UHC (Let’s see where it went wrong, because the goal of the program is for everyone to feel the program. PhilHealth’s role in the UHC is lacking),” Ejercito said in an interview over Radio DZBB.

Nevertheless, the senator said he fully believes that granting PhilHealth a zero subsidy won’t affect its services.

“Financially sound ang Philhealth, yun lang di ginagamit (ang pondo). Nagalit ako kailangan may change of leadership ang Philhealth dahil di sila successful in implementing UHC, napakaliit ng sinasagot nila (PhilHealth is financially sound, they’re not just using their funds. I got angry because I believe there should be a change of leadership in PhilHealth because they are not successful in implemeting the UHC. They subsidize so little) which is not the intention of the law,” the senator added.

That is why Ejercito said he understands the stand of the bicameral conference committee to remove the subsidy for PhilHealth under next year’s budget.

“Ang rationale, dapat pinupwersa PhilHealth gamitin pondo nila (The rationale behind it is to force PhilHealth to utilize their funds),” he said, noting that they have almost P600-billion in reserve funds.

As to the constitutionality of this action, Ejercito said Congress would just have to wait when petitions are submitted before the courts.

“Yan ay legal question na antayin na lang po natin, yan ung sin tax kasi ay earmark ang certain percentage para sa Philhealth benefit. Yan ay legal question na kailangan maresolve (That is the legal question that we’ll just have to wait, because a certain percentage of PhilHealth benefit are earmarked for the Sin Tax law.

Earlier, several senators have raised their objection to this particular move by the bicameral conference committee on the 2025 national budget, saying the decision to remove PhilHealth's 2025 government subsidy directly contradicts existing sin tax laws and threatens sustainability of PhilHealth coverage of indirect contributors.

Sen. Pia Cayetano emphasized that the zero-subsidy decision violates Section 288-A of the National Internal Revenue Code. Under this provision, as amended by the Sin Tax Reform Acts of 2012 and 2019, 80 percent of revenues from tobacco products and sugar-sweetened beverages must be allocated to PhilHealth to fund the UHC Act.

“PhilHealth's accumulation of excess funds is an equally important issue, but it should be addressed separately,” explained Cayetano, the main proponent of Sin Tax laws, which aims to reduce harmful consumption while funding essential healthcare services.

“The fact remains that our sin tax laws require that earmarked revenues should be allocated directly to PhilHealth,” she said.

According to Cayetano, the increased excise taxes have since helped curb smoking rates and provided vital resources for health programs.