Sen. Loren Legarda expressed skepticism over the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.’s (PhilHealth) decision to significantly reduce its proposed P137.7 million anniversary budget to just “a few hundred thousand pesos.” The matter was discussed during a Senate finance committee hearing on Wednesday.
PhilHealth president and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. assured lawmakers that the anniversary budget had been scaled down. “What was approved by the board… is a budget of a few hundred thousand pesos only. There’s no hundred of millions, there’s no millions,” he clarified.
However, Legarda pointed out inconsistencies between Ledesma’s statement and a document presented at the hearing, detailing the original proposal. The senator questioned the logic behind allocating millions for activities such as a gala night and a sports fest.
“Ano ba ito, gala night and sports fest, P32 million and P13 million, habang ang dami-daming nangangailangan ng health care,” she remarked. “Who’s the smart person who made this?”
Ledesma explained that the P137.7 million proposal originated from an internal “anniversary committee” within PhilHealth. The proposed breakdown included P7.9 million for tokens and umbrellas, which further drew criticism from the senator.
Legarda requested PhilHealth to submit a memorandum explaining why such an extravagant budget was initially proposed. The issue gained public attention after being exposed on social media by Dr. Tony Leachon, a critic of PhilHealth.
