La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega  V (left), Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre (Facebook)

Ranking congressmen have told the individuals who are spreading lies about the budget of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to stop fooling Filipinos.

This, as both Deputy Majority Leader La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V and Assistant Majority Leader Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre assured the public that the state health insurer was well-funded for 2025.

"Sinisigurado po natin sa taumbayan po (We are assuring the people), PhilHealth has more than enough funds to cover its members for the entire year. Klarong klaro po yun (That is very clear)" Ortega said in press conference Monday, Dec. 16.

"Itong mga nagpapakalat po ng fake news, baka hindi pa po sila miyembro ng PhilHealth kaya bitter sila. Kaya itigil niyo na yang kalokohan na pinaggagagawa niyo," Ortega said.

(Those who are spreading fake news are probably not yet PhilHealth members, which explains their bitterness. So please stop your shenanigans.)

Acidre echoed Ortega’s remarks during the same presser. "Sasabihin ko lang ho din sa mga nagpapakalat ng maling kwento no, maawa naman kayo sa taumbayan. Pamasko niyo na lang sa amin, tigilin niyo na ang pagsisinungaling," he said.

(To those who are spreading wrong information, please pity our people. Do it for us this Christmas, stop spreading your lies.)

Acidre said that as per the numbers, it's clear that PhilHealth has more than enough reserve funds for the needs of its members.

"May sapat pong reserbang pondo ang PhilHealth para matugunan, hindi lang para sa isang taon, dalawang taon pa po," he said.

(PhilHealth has enough reserve funds to respond to the needs of its members, not just for one year, but for two years.)

"Hindi po pwedeng masabi na walang pera, may pera po ang PhilHealth, nandyan po yung mga--patuloy po ang ating mga...packages," added the party-list solon.

Under the recently ratified P6.352-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2025, Congress (House of Representatives and the Senate) decided not to subsidize members who are non-direct contributors.

Enterprising and unscrupulous individuals on social media have given their own spin to the news to make it appear rather erroneously that PhilHealth in its entirety had been defunded.