MANILA – Philippine Health Insurance Corp.’s (PhilHealth) debt with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing has reached P623 million as of Wednesday, Sen. Richard Gordon disclosed.
“It’s really nonpayment of bills on time that is killing us here. They owe us, as of Dec. 1, P623,321,000. It’s a moving target,” Gordon told ABS-CBN News Channel’s Headstart.
According to Gordon, the PRC has been spending around P25 million per day for its COVID-19 testing. This goes on top of the standing debt PhilHealth has.
The state insurer has paid around P500 million in October, another P100 million in early November and P100 million later that month.
“It keeps on moving and moving and we want to compress in such a way as in the original contract that they owe us only P100 million para hindi naman kami nasa alanganin,” Gordon said.
The senator said, even if PhilHealth President Dante Gierran assured him that the agency has “plenty of money” and will pay the PRC, he is still worried about its growing debt.
The PRC and PhilHealth previously agreed that the bill should be settled within three days upon receipt, but “right now, they’re averaging nine days, sometimes even 12 days before they pay.”
“I don’t want to be a hog and say unahin niyo ako, but you see, I have no choice. If they don’t pay us, then we are forced to stop. And when we are forced to stop, as you see, Manila is rising, and the Philippine Red Cross – hindi ako nagmamalaki, hindi po ako mukhang pera. Ang sinasabi ko lang po, 37 percent ng Manila ang tine-test ng Philippine Red Cross,” Gordon said.
Last October, the PRC temporary halted testing of overseas Filipino workers, those arriving in seaports and airports and from mega swabbing facilities after PhilHealth failed to pay its P1 billion dept.
It resumed operations after the state insurer paid the initial P500 million./PN
