Double Whammy
The latest COVID-19 report shows that the Philippines now has the highest number of cases among Asian countries. This is quite alarming because we have reached the point when the government can no longer bear the cost of ECQs and MECQs, thus, necessitating the relaxation of quarantine measures. The government is having a hard time striking a balance between public health and the economy. As of now, the government cannot give priority to one without compromising the other. When quarantine measures in Metro Manila and the neighboring provinces were downgraded to GCQ in order to give the economy a chance to recover, we experienced a meteoric rise in cases forcing our overly exhausted medical frontliners to call for a time out. And now residents in Metro Manila and in some provinces in Luzon have to endure again the state of loss of livelihood and closure of businesses.
With the Philippines now at the state of being the worst-hit country in Asia, the government and all Filipinos need to work double time in finding ways on how to prevent the spread of the contagion and how to cure the sick. Aside from the country’s health care system reaching its limits, the country is also grappling with the problem of saving its dying state health insurance system that has barely a year of actuarial life. An actuarial life shows the probability of a person at a certain age dying before their next birthday. These statistics calculate the remaining life expectancy for people at different ages and stages, and the probability of surviving a particular year of age. Technically, Philhealth will be able to serve its contributing members and its non-contributing beneficiaries under the Universal Health Care Act until next year only as funds are drying up fast due to the COVID pandemic.
Philhealth’s woes would have been forgivable had its financial troubles been caused by footing the bills of those afflicted by COVID-19. In this case, the government can intervene by infusing funds to the beleaguered state health insurer. But the problem is far more serious because a substantial portion of its funds is lost to corruption. The recent Senate investigation has unearthed the skeletons that Philhealth has been hiding in its closets. The story about a Mafia operating within the organization keeps on showing its ugly head every time Philhealth becomes the center of controversy. However, no Mafia member has ever been sent to jail. President Duterte’s strategy of ‘militarizing’ a government agency to get rid of corrupt officials and employees does not seem to work with Philhealth. Who else should the President send to Philhealthin order to cleanse the entire organization?
We need to win the war against COVID-19 as one. With a President whose words incite contempt and hatred rather than inspiration, a health department whose pandemic response is mired by a tragedy of errors, and a state health insurer whose financial health is worst than a severe COVID-19 case, there is a reason to storm the heavens with prayer so that the Philippines can survive from this double whammy: one may be considered an ‘act of God’ and the other is the basest act of man. – By Atty. Greg Borja Austral, CPA