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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) are yet to remit their contributions to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
By 2022, PhilHealth is projected to collect P188.66 billion. To date, Pagcor and PCSO have not given their share.
During the Senate committee hearing on health and demography on Monday, Senator JV Ejericto asked why the two agencies had not given their chunk of the contribution.
“By law, they are supposed to remit their 50-percent share para po magamit sa (to be used for the) Universal Healthcare Law. Anong rason nila na hindi nila nire-remit ang kanila pong share (What is their reason why they have not remitted their share)?” he inquired.
PhilHealth officer-in-charge Eli Dino Santos answered: “There was an issue as to whether or not the share of Pagcor and PCSO should be directly remitted to PhilHealth.”
“Department of Budget and Management and [Department of Finance] is saying that it should be remitted first to the Bureau of Treasury,” he shared.
PhilHealth told INQUIRER.net that both agencies have agreed to remit through the Bureau of Treasury.
It will then be released to PhilHealth through the General Appropriations Act “as a national government subsidy for benefit enhancement.”
Last year, PhilHealth collected P171.17 billion, P90 billion of which came from direct contributors.
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