Is PhilHealth the most mismanaged government agency?

Many of us who followed the avalanche of difficult questioning by Supreme Court Associate Justices Amy Lazaro-Javier of the solicitor general, the government corporate counsel, and its senior vice president, must have been tempted to conclude PhilHealth is the worst led government-owned and controlled corporation and worst managed provider of financial support for the peoples' health needs.

- Atty. Josephus B. Jimenez

PhilHealth was created to serve the people and never to become a burden to the nation, and an embarrassment. It's funded by billions contributed by all employers and many millions of workers in the Philippines and abroad. The peoples' right to health is a constitutional right. This right has been reinforced also in an array of statutes, the latest of which is the Universal Health Law.

Under the Constitution, it's the duty of the state to promote and protect the peoples' health. In this connection, the state is mandated by Filipino to adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development to make health services affordable and available to the people. The oral arguments before the Court, however, revealed that the leadership and management of PhilHealth are incompetent, inept, and lacking in service.

The senior vice presidents and other top level executives and managers of PhilHealth are overpaid, underworked, and inept. Despite their handsome compensation packages, they are lacking in a sense of urgency and have failed to perform their duties. Multiple millions in hospital bills remain unpaid and millions of PhilHealth members haven't received the services they have paid for for many years.