One of the country's most popular blogger and social media personality, Thinking Pinoy made another explosive expose revealing the alleged malversation of the controversial P10.6 Billion PhilHealth Funds by former Pres. Benigno "PNoy" Aquino, Butch Abad, Health Secretary Janette Garin and PhilHealth CEO Alexander Padilla.
Source: Thinking Pinoy
According to Thinking Pinoy the P10.6 billion from sin taxes was supposedly allocated for senior citizens for the year 2015. The Expanded Senior Citizens' Act of 2010 (RA 9994) provides free medical insurance coverage to senior citizens, made possible by a combination of the Sin Tax Law (RA 10351) and (RA 10645).
After deducting the small share of tobacco farmers, 80% of Sin Taxes go to PhilHealth, RA 10645 requires part of the 80% to be reserved for the cost of PhilHealth coverage for Filipino senior citizens.
The P10.6 billion income from Sin Taxes was supposedly for the senior citizens allocation for 2015 but in August 2015 letter to DBM Sec. Butch Abad, Health Secretary Janette Garin and PhilHealth CEO Alexander Padilla said PhilHealth doesn't need the money anymore, because PhilHealth can cover all seniors even without the P10.6 billion from sin tax.
DOH Secretary Garin also sits as PhilHealth Chairman during the time of PNoy, by virtue of her being the Secretary of Health.
With the premise that PhilHealth doesn't need the money from sin taxes, Padilla and Garin asked Abad to reallign the P10.6 billion towards the DOH's Facilities Enhancement Program, with about half of the amount (P5.3 billion) earmarked for the botched school-based barangay health center construction project.
Thinking Pinoy exposed further that the 2015 realignment of the PhilHealth Funds, in itself, is already illegal as per February Supreme Court's 2015 decision on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) (SC GR 209287).
The bigger problem of PhilHealth, according to TP is the fact that Alexander Padilla and Janette Garin, as agents of PhilHealth, let go of the massive P10.6 billion subsidy despite the fact that PhilHealth was struggling to pay claims of senior citizens members, and despite the fact that PhilHealth, as a whole, was on the verge of bankruptcy.
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