Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray Reyes on Thursday sought a congressional inquiry into the Philippine Health Corp. (PhilHealth) for prioritizing the increase of its executives’ pay during the pandemic.
In filing House Resolution 1261, Reyes urged the House Committee on Health to look into the tripling of PhilHealth executives’ pay in 2022. Reyes, vice chair of the health committee, filed the resolution calling for the House inquiry after PhilHealth officials confirmed the findings were true during budget deliberations this week.
“It is ridiculous and reeks with callous lack of empathy that PhilHealth thought it necessary to apply for a certification to increase their salaries and allowances threefold in the middle of a pandemic,” Reyes said.
“They cannot even provide a zero balance billing for its members despite millions collected in additional increases in premium contributions, billions of proceeds from their investments, and the multiple sources of funding provided for by several statutes enacted for the purpose,” he added. Maricel V. Cruz
According to the lawmaker, the Commission on Audit’s (COA) report released last month showed PhilHealth’s key management personnel received P71.45 million in 2022, which was almost triple compared to P26.2 million in 2021.
He questioned the propriety of PhilHealth executives’ giving themselves pay hikes amid PhilHealth’s failure to adequately fulfill its mandate.
“While PhilHealth struggles to satisfactorily complete its mandate of being the nation’s health insurance provider, the Commission on Audit (COA) reported a 175 percent increase in the pay of PhilHealth officials from 2021-2022 with some officials earning up to over half a million in a month in the middle of a raging pandemic,” he said.
“The State of Public Health Emergency was lifted only in July of 2023, putting the propriety of PhilHealth’s request for a certification for an increase in their pay right in the middle of a pandemic in question” Reyes said.
The lawmaker also deplored that PhilHealth was involved in yet another controversy. Maricel V. Cruz