Sotto eyes ending lawmakers' guarantee letters in MAIFIP distribution

Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III on Monday raised the possibility of eliminating the role of lawmakers in issuing guarantee letters to hospitals for indigent patients to avail of the Department of Health's Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program.

Sotto defended the increase in the proposed allocation for the medical assistance program, saying it was meant for indigent patients in private hospitals.

The bicameral conference committee over the weekend approved increasing the budget for the MAIFIP program to P51 billion for 2026, following an appeal from the House panel to restore its proposed P49-billion allocation — higher than the P24.2 billion budget under the National Expenditure Program.

"Ang plano dito sa MAIFIP, i-allow ito sa mga private hospitals para pwede mag-private hospital ang mga indigent patients, lahat ng mahihirap, ma-accommodate sa mga private hospitals," Sotto said.

(The plan is to expand the MAIFIP to allow indigent patients to avail themselves of the program in private hospitals.)

''Hindi yan pork barrel. Hindi namin i-aallow magkaroon, MAIFP, pork barrel. Medical assistance, diretso. Hanggang maaari nga aalisin namin ng guarantee letters, diretso sa DOH at diretso sa PhilHealth ang funding," he added.

(It's not pork barrel. We will not allow that. We want to eliminate the GLs and disburse the funding directly to DOH and PhilHealth.)

The bicameral conference committee convened on Saturday to reconcile the disagreeing provisions of the proposed P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026.

During the bicam meeting, Senator Loren Legarda said that, “in an ideal world,” there should be no need for guarantee letters from senators and congressmen.

“But until such time that the Universal Health Care law is fully and properly implemented and PhilHealth is able to handle all of this, I believe that we must provide for the poorest of the poor,” Legarda said.

Senate Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said he would not ratify the 2026 budget Bicam report unless the provisions in the MAIFIP are corrected, pointing out that it is not compliant with the Universal Health Care Act.

He added that MAIFIP has been prone to political patronage, as it allows government officials to issue guarantee letters for indigent patients. –NB, GMA Integrated News