📷Health Alliance for Democracy | FB
Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) called on the Supreme Court to declare the transfer of PhilHealth “excess” funds as illegal and permanently disallow the transfer.
In a protest action held in front of the Supreme Court today, HEAD Chairperson Dr. Edelina Dela Paz reiterated that the fund transfer to the Department of Finance is unjust and will not benefit the Filipino people.
She said that the funds should instead be directly allotted to public health and public hospitals and health facilities nationwide. Quality public health care should be government-funded, free, accessible, and available for all Filipinos.
The protest action was held in time with the oral arguments at the Supreme Court regarding the petitions questioning PhilHealth transfer of funds. The health groups support the petitions filed in Court.
Dr. Dela Paz reiterated that the government should fulfill its primary responsibility in people’s health. Instead of allotting billions of funds to pork barrel-like projects in the national budget, it should prioritize health services and other social services for the people.
“The government should not abdicate its responsibility of providing for the health of the poor majority and not pass it to the direct contributors of PhilHealth. With PhilHealth, we are doubly or even triple-charged – we pay taxes, we pay the premium, and when we get sick or hospitalized, we pay the bill not covered by PhilHealth, or for the medicines and procedures not available in the public hospitals. Worse, PhilHealth has become a milking cow for corrupt officials.
“Ano pa ang silbi ng PhilHealth kung ganitong mga kurakot lamang ang nakikinabang at niraraid pa ng gobyerno? Kung marami pa rin ang hindi makapagpagamot sa sobrang mataas na bayarin sa kalusugan? Baka dapat na itong iabolish,” said Dr. Dela Paz.
“Government-funded free, complete and quality public health services for all Filipinos in all public health facilities need not pass through the burdensome and corruption-ridden PhilHealth. Free health care should not be dependent on PhilHealth membership. There should be no need to beg for Guaranty Letters or Malasakit, because these are all people’s money in the first place,” Dr Dela Paz concluded. #
