Senators to PhilHealth chief: Answer inquiries respectfully

MANILA, Philippines —  Senators yesterday called out the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) president for his manner of answering the interpellation of Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito about the agency’s billions of savings while many poor Filipinos struggle to access medical services.

During the plenary deliberation on the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025, Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino and Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian reminded PhilHealth president Emmanuel Ledesma to “temper responses with an iota of humility.”

Ledesma’s way of reacting to interpellation allegedly caught the ire of Sen. Robinhood Padilla as some witnesses saw the senator approach Ledesma at the back of the session hall and confronted the PhilHealth chief about his “rude and arrogant demeanor.”

However, Padilla denied this, saying, “I have no right to scold anyone who is a secretary. I gave him some advice similar to the statements made by… Gatchalian and… Tolentino.”

The Senate previously suspended the rules during the proceedings to allow Ledesma to directly answer the questioning and interpellation of Ejercito on the excess funds of PhilHealth.

Meanwhile, only the PhilHealth board, and not its president, can revoke the accreditation of health care professionals, the Supreme Court has ruled. – Mayen Jaymalin, Daphne Galvez