₱200 Billion for the Sick, Not the Vault: Bong Go Pushes Release of PhilHealth Funds
Senator Bong Go has renewed his call for the immediate release of around ₱200 billion in earmarked funds to PhilHealth, warning that continued delays are crippling the country’s healthcare system and undermining the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law.
Speaking during the bicameral conference committee meeting on December 13, Go stressed that these funds — mandated under the Sin Tax Law (RA 10351) — were meant to support health services, not to sit idle or be diverted elsewhere.
“Kung posible na mailabas ang hindi pa nailalabas — ang ₱200 bilyon — dapat ibigay sa PhilHealth.”
🩺 Funds Meant to Save Lives
According to Go, the ₱200B could:
Expand healthcare coverage
Ease hospital reimbursements
Help millions of patients afford treatment
Strengthen PhilHealth’s role under UHC
Yet despite clear legal mandates, large portions of these sin tax revenues have not been fully released since 2023.
Go also criticized the transfer of PhilHealth’s so-called “excess funds” to the National Treasury — a move he described as morally wrong and constitutionally questionable, especially after the Supreme Court ruled against similar diversions.
⚖️ “PhilHealth Is Not a Business”
Go delivered one of his clearest statements yet:
“PhilHealth is for health. PhilHealth is for Filipinos. PhilHealth is not a business.”
For low-income families already crushed by medical costs, delayed funding means delayed care — or worse, no care at all.
As vice chair of both the Senate health and finance committees, Go said oversight hearings revealed persistent gaps in PhilHealth’s support for patients, proving that the problem isn’t excess funds — it’s unmet need.
🦅 AGILA TAKE (Satirical Jab)
Kapag bangko — may interes.
Kapag pasyente — maghintay.
Pero ang pondo ng kalusugan,
hindi ipon. Dapat umaandar.
📖 Biblical Reflection
“Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.”
— Psalm 82:3
Health funding is not generosity.
It is justice.
🧠 Why This Matters
The Universal Health Care Law cannot work if its financial backbone is withheld.
Bong Go’s push reframes the debate:
👉 This is not about accounting — it’s about survival.
A nation cannot claim progress while its sick are left waiting.
