BBM keeps Cabinet members who made him unpopular
Bongbong Marcos has retained Cabinet men who maimed PhilHealth.
That issue discredited him starting 2024. He doesn’t seem to care.
BBM kept Secretaries Ralph Recto of Finance and Amenah Pangandaman of Budget. Of five Cabinet men in PhilHealth’s board, the two are most to blame for the illicit transfer of P90 billion of our PhilHealth money to bridge works. BBM knows that.
BBM swiftly removed the Foreign, Environment and Energy chiefs. But he’s wavering over Health Secretary and PhilHealth chairman Ted Herbosa.
Herbosa abetted the P90-billion mess in 2024. In 2025 he was silent when Congress removed PhilHealth’s P74-billion funding.
No word as well from BBM about two other Cabinet men in PhilHealth, Labor Sec. Benny Laguesma and Social Welfare Sec. Rex Gatchalian.
BBM claimed to be revamping his Cabinet to appease voters. Health disservice, costly food and low incomes had topped the election concerns.
The admin misread the signs. People were impatient for results, BBM said. That’s why only five of his 12 senatorial bets won last May 12, and two defected.
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The screwing of PhilHealth began in December 2023. Recto was deputy speaker when Congress enacted the 2024 national budget.
That budget was irregular. It funded through political “ayuda” under Programmed Appropriations a surprise People’s Initiative for Charter Change.
To accommodate that maneuver, the 2024 budget relegated to Unprogrammed Appropriations certain projects for which foreign loans and aid already had been secured.
Examples: From Korea, the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Island Bridges project. From other lenders, maintenance of roads. From various donors, peace process management.
Charger change flopped even though the admin used up Programmed Appropriations for political ambition. It then fell short of funds for Unprogrammed Appropriations.
Recto reappeared as Finance secretary in January 2024 to implement that budget. A month later, he issued DOF Circular 003 to bridge the fund gap.
Under the memo, Recto siphoned to the Bureau of Treasury all “fund balances” of government-owned and -controlled corporations.
GOCCs include Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp., SSS, GSIS, Pag-IBIG and PhilHealth.
It didn’t matter that the money of those GOCCs came from bank depositors, private and government employees’ salaries and forced contributions to housing and health insurance. As Finance secretary, Recto or his rep sat as GOCC boss.
Recto demanded P90 billion from PhilHealth. Pangandaman, Herbosa, Laguesma and Gatchalian acceded. So did yet another Malacañang appointee, PhilHealth president Emmanuel Ledesma.
Four cases were filed with the Supreme Court: one for unconstitutionality of the 2024 budget and three for illegality of the P90-billion arm-twisting of PhilHealth.
Ledesma merits special mention. Only that January, he raised PhilHealth mandatory contributions of private and government employees from four to five percent of salaries. That was supposedly because he wanted to improve members’ benefits, but PhilHealth was short of funds.
Yet he happily gave away P90 billion. Malacañang sacked him a year later.
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At the Supreme Court, Recto et al. proudly announced that they spent PhilHealth’s P90 billion for:
• Panay-Guimaras-Negros Island Bridges project, for which Korea already had given P174.49 billion;
• Maintenance of certain roads;
• Peace process.
Questioned by Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier, Recto’s lawyers stammered in justifying the use of our health insurance for a fully funded bridge work.
Justice Jhosep Lopez recounted being a PhilHealth contributor for 30 years since its founding in 1995. Yet after paying hundreds of thousands of pesos and needing cancer treatment in 2023, PhilHealth covered only P50,000 of his P7-million medical bill.
Justice Antonio Kho wondered why PhilHealth gives so little to contributors, and only for hospitalization instead of universal health care. Perhaps management must be replaced, he said. PhilHealth has 66 million paying members.
Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa disputed Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra’s claim that Congress has discretion over PhilHealth subsidy. He said lawmakers must follow their own legislation. The Universal Health Care Act and Sin Tax Law require part of alcohol, tobacco and sweetener taxes to subsidize PhilHealth indigent members, numbering 37 million.
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Congress abused its discretion this 2025.
Malacañang originally proposed P74 billion for PhilHealth’s indigent members. The Senate and House separately approved it in three readings.
But a bicameral conference committee of two reallocated the money to Public Works pork barrels. Senators and congressmen ratified the plunder.
Senate President Chiz Escudero said the zero budget was to punish PhilHealth’s incompetent management. Recto, Pangandaman, Laguesma and Gatchalian kept mum. As “consuelo de bobo,” Herbosa said PhilHealth had some money left to cover the zero subsidy.
UP economics Prof. Cielo Magno warns that BBM’s admin will likely loot PhilHealth again in 2026. That’s if we members let our guard down.
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