The diversion of billions of pesos from PhilHealth under the BBM administration, now stranded amid the flood control projects scandal, is a grave abuse of public funds. It directly harmed health insurance members while exposing reckless fiscal conduct that demands accountability.
PhilHealth funds are not excess cash that the government may freely shuffle around; they are pooled contributions meant solely for medical care. When these billions were taken, hospitals tightened coverage, members faced delayed or denied benefits, and confidence in the health system weakened. The damage was immediate and concrete: sick Filipinos paid the price for a decision made far from hospital wards and emergency rooms.
The claim that the money will be “returned” through the 2026 national budget raises disturbing questions. If the funds were merely borrowed, where are they now? If they were spent, who authorized their use, and for what exact purpose? Promising repayment years later does not answer these questions; it only confirms that the original amount is gone, unaccounted for, or politically inconvenient to explain.
Worse, sourcing the replacement from the 2026 budget means drawing on taxpayers’ money again. That is not restitution but the duplication of loss: citizens first lost their health benefits, then were asked to refill the emptied coffers through future taxes. Such an arrangement shifts responsibility away from decision-makers and places it squarely on the public, while those who approved the transfer face no apparent consequence.
The only responsible path forward is immediate restitution from existing government resources, coupled with a full public accounting of where the PhilHealth funds went and who approved their release. Congressional inquiry, audit reports made fully public, and clear sanctions for violations must follow. Health insurance money must be legally insulated from political use, or this cycle of taking, promising, and passing the burden to taxpayers will continue unchecked.
