News Roundup 15 May 2024
May 15, 2024 • 4 min Read
Quimbo: PhilHealth profit is too high, but benefits members get are too low | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo has called for the lowering of workers’ contributions to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
She said the state-run insurer already gets enough money annually from its earnings and appropriated budget.
Quimbo made the call on Wednesday during a hearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Health regarding the proposed amendments to the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act.
According to Quimbo, PhilHealth’s gross margin in 2023 was P173.4 billion, coming from its social health insurance program alone.
This figure pertains to allocations under the national budget and other investment revenues are not included.
“First of all, Mr. Chair, I think it’s time to re-calibrate the premium rates. The premium rates are simply too high,” she pointed out.
“So, PhilHealth is earning too much because the premium rates are high, but those who pay the premiums — the workers — are at the losing end,” Quimbo said when she sponsored her proposed bill.
“So, what is our evidence here? We can see the huge earnings of PhilHealth,” she said.
“For example, 2023 reports would show that PhilHealth is expected to generate a gross margin of P173.4 billion only from the social health insurance program — not including income from investments,” she noted.
Full Story at: Quimbo: ‘PhilHealth rates are too high, workers are at losing end’ (inquirer.net)
Dela Rosa’s plea to peers: Respect my Senate panel chairmanship | INQUIRR.NET – MANILA, Philippines – Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa on Wednesday appealed to fellow lawmakers to respect his committee chairmanship and the freedom to decide when to stop its investigations.
As head of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, Dela Rosa is leading the probe into the alleged leaked Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) documents that supposedly linked certain personalities to illegal drugs.
His investigation, however, was met with criticisms from the House of Representatives.
Dela Rosa lamented that in his five years in the Senate, he did not hear any senator questioning or wanting to stop a congressional probe.
“Ngayon lang ako nakarinig,” he said in an interview when asked about the supposed comments coming from former Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Panfilo Lacson.
(This is the first time I’ve heard of it.)
“Sana respetuhin rin nila ‘yung pagiging chairman ko ng aking committee dahil nirerespeto ko rin naman ‘yung kanilang pagiging chairman sa kanilang committee,” Dela Rosa continued.
(I hope they also respect my chairmanship of my committee because I also respect their chairmanship of their committee.)
Full Story at: Dela Rosa’s plea to peers: Respect my chairmanship (inquirer.net)
Civilian convoy sails towards Scarborough Shoal in West Philippine Sea | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Civilians on board Philippine fishing boats sailed Wednesday towards a China-controlled reef off the Southeast Asian country to distribute provisions to Filipino fishermen and assert their rights to the disputed waterway.
The trip to the waters around Scarborough Shoal comes two weeks after China Coast Guard vessels fired water cannon at two Philippine government boats in the same area, in the latest maritime incident between the countries.
A Philippine Coast Guard boat will escort the civilian convoy, which includes around 100 people on four commercial fishing vessels and a number of smaller outriggers, organizers said Wednesday as the convoy left a northern Philippine port.
“Our mission is peaceful, based on international law and aimed at asserting our sovereign rights,” Rafaela David of Atin Ito said in a statement on the eve of the trip to give food and fuel to fishermen.
“We will sail with determination, not provocation, to civilianize the region and safeguard our territorial integrity.”
David said the group was undeterred by reports of a “heavy presence” of Chinese vessels near the shoal and would go ahead with plans to also drop a dozen buoys marked “WPS is ours”.
WPS is the acronym for the West Philippine Sea, Manila’s name for the South China Sea waters immediately west of the Philippines.
Scarborough Shoal has been a potential flashpoint since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012.
Full Story at: Civilian convoy sails towards Scarborough Shoal in West Philippine Sea | Philstar.com
DSWD won’t allow politicians to distribute AKAP cash aid | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Politicians are barred from participating in the actual distribution of cash aid under the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP), the controversial assistance program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian said this yesterday, as he announced that the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of AKAP had already been signed and published in late April.
“They cannot do the actual distribution. That is against our protocol,” he said over radio dzRH.
Gatchalian added that DSWD disbursing officers are not allowed to hand over the assistance to any politician for distribution.
“Only our disbursing officers can hold the money because they are accountable for that,” he stressed.
Gatchalian underscored that this policy is intended to avoid giving the impression that the cash aid came from the politicians, but he conceded that local government officials, for instance, could observe the distribution from the sidelines.
Full Story at: DSWD won’t allow politicians to distribute AKAP cash aid | Philstar.com
