Philhealth: Loophole allows bets to use cards in campaign

Officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. on Tuesday said distributing Philhealth cards for political campaign purposes is inevitable and not illegal. In a press conference at the government-run health insurance agency, Philhealth vice president for the National Capital Region Rodolfo Balog said the practice of handing out free health cards is not covered by the election ban. Under the law creating Philhealth, part of the premiums for indigent members is shouldered by the national government while part is paid by the local government units covering the indigent members. Because of this, local government units have the prerogative to distribute Philhealth cards however and whenever they want. "Dahil LGUs ang nagbibigay ng counterpart fund, sila talaga ang bahala sa distribution (Since LGUs are shelling out the counterpart funds, they are free to distribute the cards)," Philhealth senior vice president for operations Melinda Mercado said. In 2004, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo drew criticism for allegedly distributing Philhealth cards to boost her chances at winning the presidency. This year, P3.5 billion of the national budget has been allocated to pay for the national government's share of the premiums of some 4 million Philhealth cards for indigent Filipinos. However, to avoid accusations that the cards will yet again be used to campaign, Mercado said Philhealth will not issue new cards beyond March 15, 15 days before the start of the campaign season for local elective posts. "Ayaw sana namin tumigil. Madami pa naman ngayong new enrollees, sayang. Pero naiintriga kasi talaga (We do not want to stop. We have many enrollees but we have to do it to avoid intrigues)," Mercado said. Also to avoid the funds being used for campaigning, the Senate has inserted a line in the budget specifying that the P3.5 billion cannot be used before July this year. Despite this, however, several local government units have already distributed Philhealth cards to their constituents this year. Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña gave away 35,000 cards last January 28. Aklan governor Carlito Marquez has said he plans to give away cards to 30,000 families before March 15 while Cotabato City mayor Muslimin Sema has announced that his government has set aside funds for 6,000 Philhealth cards to be handed out this year.- GMANews.TV