₱51.6-B 'pork barrel' in 2026 health budget?

The approval by the Bicameral Conference Committee (Bicam) of the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program in the proposed 2026 national budget has drawn sharp reactions from the clergy and some senators.

- By JEL SANTOS, DHEL NAZARIO, and HANNAH TORREGOZA

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio “Ambo” David of Caloocan has raised strong moral and constitutional objections to the expansion of MAIFIP program, warning that its structure entrenches political patronage and undermines human dignity.

"I write this not as an adversary of public officials, but as a pastor concerned for the moral direction of our common life," David said, citing that the Supreme Court had already struck down the pork barrel system or unprogrammed appropriations in the national budget.

David stressed that the title “honorable legislator” carries a vocation “to serve the people through just laws, strong institutions, and fidelity to the Constitution.”

The Caloocan bishop said that on paper, MAIFIP sounds compassionate. But in practice, it is nothing but a health pork barrel in the national budget.

MAIFIP, he said, largely operates through a guarantee letter system, placing control over medical assistance in the hands of legislators.

"This effectively places politicians in control of who gets assistance, how much, and when," he said.

He warned that health care becomes “a favor mediated by political power—a classic system of patronage that turns illness into utang-na-loob.”

"MAIFIP, as currently structured, is a lump-sum appropriation that requires post-enactment intervention by legislators to be accessed," David said.

Political patronage