'Mukhang pera,' Duterte calls Red Cross amid PhilHealth debt row

"Mukhang pera."

That was how President Rodrigo Duterte described the Philippine Red Cross on Thursday night after Health Secretary Francisco Duque III announced that the humanitarian organization had resumed operations after it was paid half of its debt.

In a live briefing, Duque said that PRC resumed testing swab specimens after the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) paid an initial P500 million of its more than P930 million debt.

“Ngunit nabayaran na po ang PRC at nag-bukas na silang muli kaya patuloy na po ang kanilang pag-susuri ng mga swab specimen,” Duque said.

The president then said, “Mukhang pera.”

Duterte had earlier vowed to pay off the P930-million debt of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to the PRC after the humanitarian organization stopped accepting tests chargeable to the state insurer.

PhilHealth waited for clearance from the Department of Justice before releasing the initial payment. PRC Chairman and Senator Richard Gordon had expressed his gratitude to the president after PhilHealth released an initial payment to the PRC, but pressed the state insurer to settle its debt in full.

On Thursday, PhilHealth said it had released another P100 million in payment.

Filipinos follow protocols

In his report to the president, Duque also noted the decreasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country, attributing this to the compliance of Filipinos with health standards.

“Number one ‘yung atin pong nagiging effective ‘yung atin pong communication sa mga tao, ‘yung ating compliance with the minimum health standards; wearing of mask, face shield, proper handwashing,” Duque said.

“Parang ang mga Filipino ay nasunod ho, Mister President. Gumanda ang kanilang compliance,” he added.

Duque also cited data showing Filipinos' compliance with wearing masks. Results of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey in September revealed that eight in 10 Filipinos wore face masks.

“So ang mga tao talagang nasunod na po sa mga panuntunan o sa mga advisories ng inyo pong gobyerno. Pangalawa po ‘yung napaigting nung ating pong IATF at National Task Force sa pangangasiwa ni Secretary Galvez,” Duque said.

However, the Health secretary said Filipinos should remain vigilant.

“Hindi ho tayo puwedeng maging complacent… ‘Yun po ang sinasabi natin sa taong bayan na bagkos bumababa ang mga kaso ay hindi po ito dahilan para maging kampante,” Duque said.

The Philippines has reported a total of 389,725 confirmed cases with 349,543 recoveries and 7,409 fatalities as of Thursday, November 5. —JST, GMA News