Ang sinungaling ay kapatid ng magnanakaw. The budget shows it.
Health Sec. Ted Herbosa chairs PhilHealth. Secretaries Amenah Pangandaman of Budget, Ralph Recto of Finance, Benny Laguesma of Labor and Rex Gatchalian of Social Welfare are board directors. Malacañang-appointee Emmanuel Ledesma is president.
Herbosa says PhilHealth can operate even though Congress scrapped its P74-billion budget for 2025. Supposedly its P284-billion savings can cover members’ benefits and overhead.
“Our financial position is strong and sufficient,” Ledesma adds.
President Bongbong Marcos agrees with them, claiming that PhilHealth has P500-billion reserves.
If that’s so, then why did they propose the P74 billion to Congress in the first place? And why did Congress axe it after months of hearings?
They all know government’s budgeting process. It’s posted in DBM’s website. They went through it as former legislators. They do it every year.
The DBM secretary heads the Development Budget Coordination Committee. Members: Finance and NEDA secretaries, BSP governor and the President’s rep. Budgeting steps:
(a) DBCC plots targets, expenses, revenues;
(b) DBM calls for budget submissions;
(c) Agencies prepare detailed proposals;
(d) DBM technical panels hear agency justifications;
(e) Agency heads confirm budgets;
(f) DBCC collates all, including Congress and Judiciary’s;
(g) President and Cabinet review all;
(h) President gives budget to Congress within 30 days from SONA;
(i) House appropriations subcommittees scrutinize each agency;
(j) Senate finance subcommittees do the same;
(k) Bicameral conference committee reconciles differences;
(l) House and Senate ratify, President signs budget law.
Herbosa, Pangandaman, Recto, Laguesma and Gatchalian were involved in several steps in PhilHealth’s 2025 budgeting. So was Ledesma. So was BBM.
Ledesma and Herbosa attended the House and Senate subcommittee hearings on PhilHealth.
After subcommittee hearings, the House and Senate plenaries separately passed the national budget on three reading days.
Ledesma and Herbosa attended the House’s third reading. A video shows them nearly coming to blows due to personal differences.
Final for PhilHealth: P53-billion automatic share from sin taxes on alcohol, tobacco, sweets. Plus P21-billion subsidy. Total: P74 billion.
So why did a closed-door bicameral committee of two slash it to zero in one morning? Why did the 316-member House and 24-member Senate ratify the bicam report that same afternoon?
Why does BBM now say it’s alright?
DepEd underwent the same process. BBM sought P748.09 billion. Sec. Sonny Angara, an ex-senator, attended Senate and House hearings. Congress approved P748.65 billion, or P560 million higher.
But the bicam of two slashed P11.57 billion, leaving only P737.08 billion.
Why didn’t the Senate and House cut it down in the plenaries?
Now Senate President Chiz Escudero belatedly justifies: “DepEd can use unspent funds, like P36.13-billion computerization in 2022 to 2024. That’s thrice what it wants restored.”
BBM is helping Angara get the funds back. He should look into their personal grudges, and if those have to do with their warring UP Law fraternities.
What it took from PhilHealth and DepEd, the secret bicam added to the following:
• P17.37 billion to the House’s original P16.3 billion, bloating it to P33.67 billion;
• P1.1 billion to the Senate’s original P12.8 billion, making it P13.9 billion;
• P214 billion to DPWH’s spending capacity of P898.9 billion, making it P1.113 trillion.
Now DPWH Sec. Manuel Bonoan must concoct new projects. Congress plenaries already had approved all the works his agency can do in 2025.
A congressman blabbers that their doubled budget is due to additional House seats. If so, why give senators additional too when they’re now only 23, after Angara joined DepEd?
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A 14-day blackout this month struck Siargao Island, the country’s surfing capital and a top tourist destination. A submarine power cable broke in waters off Socorro, paralyzing eight other towns and Bucas Grande Isles.
Resorts lost P100,000 a day on average. Most shut down as tens of thousands of angry tourists departed or canceled bookings. Daily-wage earners had no income. Drinking water became scarce and costly because pumps couldn’t run. Siargao has 120,000 residents.
Siargao Electric Cooperative found the damage only on the second day, Dec. 2. Jagged coral edges cut the cable as it swayed with the currents. Repairs took eight days. Power came back for a day, then fell again for three days.
Siarelco’s general manager is Rep. Sergio Dagooc of party-list Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives.
Surigao del Norte’s provincial board declared a state of calamity on Dec. 9. Politics delayed it. Members from the first congressional district, where Siargao belongs, snubbed an earlier session, preventing quorum.
Gov. Robert Lyndon Barbers and General Luna Mayor Sol Matugas, Siargao’s political boss, are at odds. Rep. Francisco Matugas reportedly is squaring off with Barbers in Election 2025.
Since 2016, Siargao has been suffering 12-hour blackouts. That’s despite Siarelco’s direct undersea connection to the Mindanao grid.
Sen. Migz Zubiri has asked DOE and National Electrification Administration for long-term solutions to Siargao’s frequent outages. NEA last year granted Siarelco P1-billion support.
As if ignoring netizens’ outcries, Siarelco has restricted comments on its Facebook page.
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