Senator Risa Hontiveros called on the Department of Health (DOH) to ensure that the new administrative order it is drafting on the Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Persons (MAIFIP) would provide clarity and not confusion.

Hontiveros made the call on Thursday, January 15 as she urge the DOH to make sure that state medical assistance would be devoid of patronage politics as mandated by a provision under the 2026 national budget.

"Our decision in the Senate and House is clear: We should no longer go door-to-door to politicians' offices to beg for guarantee letters (GLs) just to get medical treatment,”  said Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography.

“That's why I hope the DOH is also clear that the new guidelines they will release regarding MAIFIP should make it easier to get help and not make it more difficult for patients and their families,” she said.

The senator also stressed that the reforms put in place by the 2026 budget, such as the “anti-epal” provision introduced by Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, must be sustained beyond the current fiscal year.

Moreover, Hontiveros said she is ready to begin the period of interpellations on Senate Bill No. 1593 or the proposed Universal Health Care Medical Assistance Program (UHC MAP) which will directly provide financial aid to hospitals and its patients.

Once enacted into law, she said patients would no longer need to ask politicians for GLs and will just submit applications to the medical social workers at the hospital.

Under the bill, medical social workers are to provide assistance to patients within 72 hours.

“Let’s put an end to begging for GLs. The assistance that our countrymen need for treatment should be given directly to them,” she said.

“All those in need, should be given assistance. No compensation. No conditions. No strings attached,” she emphasized.