PhilHealth officials’ salaries tripled  

MANILA, Philippines —  State health insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corp.’s top executives have had their salaries tripled during the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to an executive order issued by then president Rodrigo Duterte in 2021.

Executive Order 150 standardized the salaries of all government-owned and controlled corporations.

PhilHealth spokesman Israel Pargas defended their proposed P101.5-billion budget for 2024 during a House committee on appropriations hearing yesterday.

Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Ray Reyes pointed out that the Commission on Audit’s 2022 report revealed the executives’ tripled salaries, with some earning up to P500,000 monthly.

Pargas maintained that they applied to the Governance Commission for GOCCs and the increased salaries were approved.

Budget cut

The Department of Health has been slapped with a P10-billion budget cut in 2024, including its line item for the Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients (MAIP) program.

MAIP funding has been lowered from P32.6 billion to P22.3 billion.

“The DOH-wide budget has been increasing since 2019. The 2024 budget, however, is three percent lower than the 2023 GAA (General Appropriations Act) level. The 2024 NEP (National Expenditure Program) is five percent lower than its previous level,” Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said during the House committee on appropriations budget hearing yesterday.

The DOH’s proposed 2024 budget is P204.3 billion.

Other line items recommended for lower funding include the health facilities enhancement program (from P26.8 billion to P23 billion), prevention and control of non-communicable disease (from P2.9 billion to P1.7 billion) and prevention and control of communicable diseases (from P5.8 billion to P4.8 billion).

Budget increase was noted for operations of state hospitals (from P65.5 billion to P67.3 billion), family health, immunization, nutrition and responsible parenting (from P7.4 billion to P83 billion) and health promotion (from P2 billion to P2.1 billion).

Meanwhile, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said that a separate line item for family planning and reproductive health is important as the country’s population is now pegged at 117,337,368 with a population growth rate of 1.54 percent.