State insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corp., which is currently hounded by allegations of corruption, received the second-largest subsidy from the government in June 2020, data from the Bureau of the Treasury show.
PhilHealth received P26.173 billion in June, trailing by P5.077 billion the P31.250 billion allotted for the National Food Authority, the largest subsidy given to state-run institutions.
Other government institutions that received substantial subsidies in June were the National Housing Authority with P7.46 billion; National Irrigation Administration, P2.45 billion; Small Business Corp., P500 million; Bases Conversion and Development Authority, P424 million; and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, P262 million.
The subsidy of P31.250 billion for NFA was the largest given among major non-financial government corporations, while the P26.173 billion for PhilHealth was the biggest among other government corporations.
The significant subsidies for NFA and PhilHealth in June led to a 132-percent jump in total subsidies to
P69.161 billion from P29.799 billion in May 2020.
Meanwhile, the Social Security System got the biggest subsidy at P51 billion in the first six months (P25.5 billion each for April and May 2020), followed by NFA, P37.65 billion; PhilHealth, P26.174 billion; NIA, P17.833 billion; Light Rail Transit Authority, P11.151 billion; and National Electrification Administration, P11.015 billion.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said in a television interview on Friday that the Office of the President will conduct its own investigation into allegations of corruption in PhilHealth.
Roque confirmed that the Palace received the resignation of Thorsson Montes Keith, the anti-legal fraud officer of the agency.
He asked Keith to cooperate with Duterte’s office by substantiating claims about the supposedly rampant corruption within the state insurance agency.
Roque repeatedly expressed disappointment over the alleged failure of PhilHealth president and chief executive Ricardo Morales to address the supposed irregularities plaguing the agency.