Although victimized in PhilHealth hacking, members will pay penalty

Government kicked us PhilHealth members thrice in the gut in 2024. It will kick us a fourth time early this New Year.

- JARIUS BONDOC

In January 2024 it raised our monthly contributions: P500 from earners of less than P10,000, up to P5,000 from those more than P100,000 – purportedly for our benefit.

But midyear it grabbed P60 billion of our money – for flood works and other political pork barrels.

Then it withheld P74 billion in sin-tax shares earmarked for indigent members – allegedly because PhilHealth has P400 billion, P500 billion, P600 billion "reserve," it can't even say for sure.

Now the National Privacy Commission says that 42 million of us members were victimized in the hacking of PhilHealth's database two years ago.

NPC is ordering PhilHealth to pay P4.6-billion fine to the government.

Plus, to notify each of us 42 million, as required by the Data Privacy Act (DPA).

At P16-postage a piece, that's P672 million, not counting cost of paper, envelopes, printers, ink, electricity and labor.

The DPA requires such notification within 72 hours. But it hadn't been done as of a House inquiry on July 8, 2024.

For sure, Malacañang's appointee board members and top officers will not shell out of their pockets the P4.6 billion, plus P672 million.

They'll get the money from our contributions.

Already victimized by privacy leak, we'll be punished for the appointees' incompetence.

For four months they hid the NPC's Sept. 4, 2024 ruling. But broadcaster Ted Failon exposed it on Radyo5 Dec. 27.