Roads lead nowhere Without Health Care
The Medical Action Group (MAG) expresses deep concern over the remarks of DOH Secretary Ted Herbosa during a congressional hearing, where he attempted to justify the diversion of PhilHealth funds by claiming that roads and bridges can provide access to health care. This reasoning is fundamentally flawed, as many poor patients cannot even go to hospitals in the first place due to the lack of adequate health funding. Such a justification is dismissive of the State’s obligation to uphold the right to health of every Filipino.
In 2024, PhilHealth remitted ₱89.9 billion in excess funds to the national treasury, with at least ₱13 billion later diverted to infrastructure projects. These funds should have been used for zero billing programs, life-saving treatments, and the expansion of benefit packages. Instead, they were redirected away from their intended purpose, undermining the ability of PhilHealth to deliver on its mandate.
Even more alarming, was the fact that Congress approved zero government subsidy for PhilHealth under the 2025 General Appropriations Act, citing its claimed ₱600 billion in reserves despite the agency operating on only a ₱284 billion budget for the year. This decision, taken against the backdrop of rising out of pocket costs, which account for 42.7 percent of total health spending, among the highest in Asia. This represents a betrayal of public trust and a denial of the Filipino people’s right to affordable health care.
Secretary Herbosa’s admission that he does not know exactly where the funds went further highlights a serious lack of transparency and accountability. Every peso entrusted to PhilHealth comes from the people and must be used to safeguard their health. Diverting these funds to infrastructure projects opens the door to corruption prone practices and weakens the already fragile trust in the health system.
MAG calls on the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Finance (DOF), PhilHealth, and Congress to fully disclose how the remitted funds were spent, to restore allocations for direct health services including reinstatement of the government subsidy, and to establish safeguards preventing the diversion of health funds in the future.
Public service must prioritize health, not infrastructure. Health is not road. It is a public service and a fundamental human right.
Medical Action Group (MAG)
09 September 2025
#NoToHealthFundDiversion#PrioritizeHealthCare#HealthOverInfrastructure
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