Amid Viral Anniversary Budget Issue, PhilHealth Board Slashes Some Collaterals
PHILHEALTH – The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. board confirmed they denied some of the collaterals for the anniversary celebration.
The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. or more popularly called PhilHealth has recently been the center of several news reports. It was after the state health insurer was decided to be denied of a subsidy in 2025.
It was Senate Finance Committee chairperson Senator Grace Poe who announced the decision of the lawmakers after the Bicameral Committee Session between the senators and some members of the House of Representatives.
According to Poe, PhilHealth will have to use its reserve funds. The decision of the Bicam gained different reactions from the public. However, amid the issue, a social media post about the alleged budget for the Christmas Party and the 30th Anniversary of PhilHealth went viral.
Dr, Tony Leachon took to social media a post stating his reaction on the alleged P138 million budget of PhilHealth for their Christmas Party and 30th Anniversary celebration. He stressed that the PhilHeath leadership team is not wise in spending the funds of the state-run health insurer.
The said viral post gathered different reactions from the netizens on social media. Amid the issue, the PhilHealth Board broke their silence regarding some of the collaterals.
Speaking to ABS-CBN News, the PhilHealth Board confirmed that they have disapproved some of the collaterals amounting to around P38 million. Based on the report, here are the collaterals that were disapproved by the board of the state health insurer:
- 18,000 umbrellas (P7.9 million)
- Perforated mesh stickers (P7.3 million)
- Tote bag (P1.82 million)
- Anniversary shirt (P3.64 million)
- Marketing shirt (P1.94 million)
- Jacket (P13.65 million)
- Katsa bag (P750,000)
- Button pins (P545,000)
Philhealth Board chairperson and Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said they decided to disapprove some of the collaterals except for the commemorative stamp with the PhilPost upon seeing the amount.
With regards to the PhilPost stamp, based on the report, the PhilPost commemorative stamp is worth P500,000. According to Herbosa, part of the budget for the 30 Anniversary celebration of the state health insurer will come from the 2024 budget of PhilHealth as the event will start in the early of 2025.
The PhilHealth Board Chief explained that the special tokens had to be put earlier so they can be bought through bidding. Recently, amid the zero subsidy for 2025, the PhilHealth assured that they will continue to pay for members’ benefits.