Philhealth spent nothing on vaccines, health workers during pandemic – Recto

MANILA, Philippines — Philhealth spent nothing on vaccines and the healthcare emergency allowances of hospital workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Finance Secretary Ralph Recto on Wednesday. 

During the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s briefing at the Senate, Recto was again questioned about the Department of Finance’s (DOF) memorandum circular to Philhealth ordering it to return idle funds amounting to P89.9 billion to the national government’s coffers. 

Recto asserted that it was the order of Congress for the DOF to seek sleeping funds and reallocate it for better use. 

Sen. Imee Marcos questioned if the reallocated funds will be used for health purposes as well. Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman answered that P27 billion was used to pay the overdue allowances of COVID-19 health workers,     

Failure to pay allowances. Sen. Grace Poe, who chairs the Committee on Finance, asked why Philhealth was not the one to pay the allowances in the first place. 

“It is not the obligation of Philhealth to pay the emergency allowances of our frontline workers. Like I said earlier, their reserve funds were not spent during the pandemic. Inako lahat ng national government. Philhealth did not spend for a single vaccine. Philhealth did not spend for a single frontline worker,” Recto replied. 

However, Recto said that Philhealth has standby funds for the purposes of an emergency such as a pandemic. 

“The emergency funds of Philhealth, it should be, precisely for something like a pandemic,” Recto said. 

The decision to loan. Recto said the previous admin opted to loan the money. The country’s debt ballooned during the pandemic. In 2019, the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio was 39.6%. In 2024, the rate reached 60.2%.  

Poe questioned why the previous admin opted to loan the money when there were funds, to which Recto replied, “it was their decision to borrow the money.”

“We can say that now we are actually allocating properly what should have been done with the funds of Philhealth to begin with because that would have been a contingency fund for eventualities regarding health,” Poe said.

Recto also pointed out that Philhealth’s income has continuously exceeded its expenses, meaning it has made more and more money. By 2024, it could accumulate funds up to P546 billion. 

Controversies. Philhealth has a long list of controversies when it comes to its finances in recent years.

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020, Philhealth faced accusations of corruption. Senior Philhealth officials allegedly pocketed P15 billion. The corporation denied this. 

In 2023, the Commission on Audit flagged Philhealth for improperly handling the COVID-19 National Vaccine Indemnity Fund, which amounts to P500 million. An audit revealed that Philhealth used the said fund for regular operations, when it should have been dedicated to the compensation of vaccinated people who were confined in the hospital, got a permanent disability or died.