A senator recently urged the government to see to it that full transparency in the allocation and release of funds for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) specifically in the 2026 national budget.
In her interpellation on the General Principles of the 2026 General Appropriations Bill, Sen. Loren Legarda questioned the deletion of the subsidies previously allocated to Philhealth in the 2024 and 2025 budgets and sought clarification on where the funds were distributed and how would they be restored.
Philhealth was not given subsidy in 2025 from the national government after the proposed P74.431-billion in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) was not included in the final version of the budget.
The amount of P53.134-billion was included for indirect contributors under the National Health Insurance Program, P21.17-billion for benefit package upgrades under the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law, and P121.17-million for Pamana Program beneficiaries.
Philhealth continued providing services to the affected sectors, drawing down on its operating funds and reserves despite the cuts, said Legarda.