President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administers the oath of office to Dr. Edwin Mercado, the new PhilHealth president and CEO. —Photo from the Presidential Communications Office
MANILA, Philippines — “Do not do what your predecessor did.”
These were the words used by Senate President Chiz Escudero when he was asked to comment on the appointment of Dr. Edwin Mercado as the new president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
In an ambush interview on Tuesday, Escudero said he welcomes President Bongbong Marcos’ decision to appoint Mercado in that position.
“It’s right to replace the PhilHealth [chief] because for the longest time, he did not do what he needed to do nor address the needs of the people, which is the main reason why Congress did what it did in their budget,” said Escudero mostly in Filipino.
“I hope PhilHealth can be fixed, especially regarding benefits for our people,” he added in Filipino.
In a separate ambush interview also on Tuesday, Sen. President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said he hopes that Mercado fixes all the problems of PhilHealth.
“One good thing is he is not a politician, mahirap kasi kapag pulitiko ang hahawak ng Philhealth maraming pwedeng pagbigyan. Ako I just wish him good luck. I just read his credentials and he is very highly qualified to be the chief of PhilHealth,” said Estrada.
Meanwhile, Sen. Grace Poe — similar to what was disclosed by Escudero and Estrada — said she’s also hoping that the new PhilHealth chief “can breathe new life into the state health insurer that needs healing itself.”
“The official faces a gargantuan task in making PhilHealth shape up to live up to its mandate of providing efficient, reliable and accessible universal healthcare to all Filipinos,” said Poe.
“The new PhilHealth management should also settle its remaining deficiencies to health workers, hospitals and other institutions. We are looking forward to the new PhilHealth leadership and we hope for a more responsive, efficient and just healthcare management,” she added.
Due to its whopping P600 billion reserve funds, PhilHealth got zero subsidy for 2025.