ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider JV Ejercito to new PhilHealth chief: Prioritize public health welfare

JV Ejercito to new PhilHealth chief: Prioritize public health welfare

Published Feb 5, 2025 04:45 am

Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Wednesday, February 5 urged the new president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to focus on prioritizing public welfare and the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) law.


Ejercito made the call following President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s decision to replace then PhilHealth chief Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. with Dr. Edwin Mercado.


Some lawmakers, including Ejercito, and some sectors have been calling for the replacement of Ledesma over PhilHealth’s tendency to treat the state health insurance agency like a private institution.


“My advice to the new Philhealth chief: Do not do a ‘Ledesma.’ His top priority should be public welfare, the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) law instead of treating Philhealth like a private, profit-driven corporation,” Ejercito said in a statement.


“Philhealth’s coverage of every Filipino’s hospital and medical expenses must significantly improve in line with UHC’s vision of reducing out-of-pocket costs to ease the burden on every family,” he stressed.


“Dapat sulit ang buwanang kontribusyon natin bilang members. Dapat matiyak na mayroong Philhealth na aalalay sa bawat pamilya sa oras ng pangangailangan, at mapawi ang takot na wala silang pagkukunan ng sapat na pera para sa gamutan o pagpapaospital (Our monthly contribution as members should be worth it. It must be ensured that there is Philhealth to support every family in the time of need, and allay the fear that they will not have enough money for treatment or hospitalization),” the senator stressed.


During the 2025 budget deliberations in the Senate last November, Ledesma earned the ire of senators over his “disrespectful” responses to them when he defended the agency’s proposed budget for next year.


This was after he was questioned over the PhilHealth’s P89.9 billion excess funds that were transferred to the National Treasury.


Meanwhile, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, welcomed Mercado’s appointment.


“I wish him well and hope that his background in the medical field will lead to better PhilHealth management,” Go said, also in a statement.


Regardless of leadership changes in PhilHealth, Go said the agency must be held accountable for ensuring that the funds collected from contributors translate to tangible healthcare benefits.


He further said it is high-time PhilHealth drops its practice of accumulating funds instead of maximizing them for healthcare services.


“As the new leadership takes the helm of PhilHealth, we remain hopeful that these perennial issues will be addressed, and we can move closer to the full implementation of the Universal Healthcare Law,” he stated.

Related Tags

jv ejercito Bong Go PhilHealth Universal Health Care (UHC) Act.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.