MANILA, Philippines鈥� The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has decided to just spend 鈥渁 few hundred thousand pesos only鈥� for its 30th anniversary next year, down from the proposed P137.7 million.
This was according to PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. as the issue was raised at a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
READ: PhilHealth board 鈥榗ancels鈥� P37.5M anniversary spending 鈥� DOH听
鈥淲hat was approved by the board and what was decided in PhilHealth already is the budget for the 30th anniversary was brought down to a few hundred thousand pesos only,鈥� Ledesma told the Senate committee on finance.
鈥淭o clarify everything, there鈥檚 no hundred of millions, there鈥檚 no millions鈥︹�� he stressed.
鈥淲e are only planning to spend a few hundred thousand pesos for our 30th anniversary. 鈥榊an lang po. Wala pong mga excessive spending po (That鈥檚 all. There is no excessive spending),鈥� the PhilHealth chief added.
But Sen. Loren Legarda noted that Ledesma鈥檚 statement was not consistent with a document being presented in the hearing, showing the breakdown of the P137.7 million proposal.
READ: PhilHealth: P138M allocation for 2025 anniversary not Christmas party听
鈥淎no ba ito, gala night and sports fest, P32 million and P13 million, habang ang dami-daming nangangailangan ng health care,鈥� Legarda asked. 鈥淎nyway, erased na ito. Who鈥檚 the smart person who made this?鈥�
(What is this, a gala night and sports fest costing P32 million and P13 million, while so many are in need of healthcare?)
Ledesma said the proposal was 鈥渆ndorsed by a group inside PhilHealth,鈥� which he later referred to as an 鈥渁nniversary committee鈥� in their office.
Upon hearing this, Legarda requested the state insurer to give a 鈥渕emo鈥� to the health committee on why this group had the idea of using P137 million PhilHealth funds for anniversary giveaways and a gala night.
Among the proposed expenses that caught the senator鈥檚 eye was the P7.9 million budget for special tokens and umbrellas.
This budget proposal for the state insurer鈥檚 anniversary was exposed last week on social media by its critic, Dr. Tony Leachon.
NOTE: The English translations in the article were AI-generated.