6 ex-DOH chiefs buck PhilHealth fund transfer

Six former secretaries of the Department of Health (DOH) have expressed opposition to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) fund transfer.

- RHODINA VILLANUEVA

In a letter to Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, former health secretaries Jaime Galvez Tan, Manuel Dayrit, Francisco Duque III, Esperanza Cabral, Enrique Ona Jr. and Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial, along with groups of health professionals, urged the Department of Finance (DOF) “to be sensitive to public opinion and exercise prudence and caution by not transferring the next tranche of funds and succeeding transfers.”

At least 65 medical organizations staged a protest action, dubbed “white coat rally,” at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila yesterday to express their opposition to PhilHealth’s scheduled fund transfer of P10 billion to the national government on Wednesday.

This developed following remittance by PhilHealth of the initial P20 billion last May.

The groups, including the Philippine Medical Association, Philippine College of Physicians, Philippine Pharmacists Association, Philippine Nurses Association, Philippine League of Government and Private Midwives and Philippine Physical Therapy Association, demanded the government stop further transfers of PhilHealth funds to the national treasury.