TACLOBAN CITY — Tingog party-list Representative Jude Acidre clarified that the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.(PhilHealth) has sufficient funding and that the P70-billion subsidy request was removed not by Congress but by the bicameral conference committee.
“I want to emphasize that Congress did not remove the funding. In our version of the General Appropriations Act (GAA), the subsidy was intact,” Acidre said on Sunday, Dec.22.
He explained that the bicameral committee, composed of senators and representatives, decided to withhold the subsidy, urging PhilHealth to first utilize its excess funds, which reportedly amount to P600 billion.
“The bicameral committee wants PhilHealth to exercise efficiency in its funding mechanisms. This is not a permanent measure but a step to ensure prudent use of public funds,” Acidre added.
He stressed that the move aims to address inefficiencies within PhilHealth’s operations.
“In public finance and government budgeting, it is not a good sign for an agency to have large unutilized savings. These funds are meant to be fully utilized. If they remain unused or are not spent on time, it indicates inefficiencies within the agency,” he explained.
According to Acidre, Congress, as the custodian of the national budget, has the mandate to promote fiscal discipline and ensure proper utilization of resources.
“As a matter of prudence and fiscal discipline, Congress has taken steps to ensure greater efficiency by withholding the subsidy, at least for this year,” he said.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
