17/09/2025
๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ ๐น๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ด๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ต๐ฎ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐น๐ผ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป. ๐๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ต๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด ๐ธ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฝ๐๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ด๐ผ๐ฏ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ผ. - Dr. Jillian Francise Lee
A public online forum entitled โ๐๐ฎ๐ต๐ฎ, ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐ ๐๐น๐๐ผโ attended by more than 100 participants on Zoom and online streaming sites andorganized by the Coalition for Peopleโs Right to Health in partnership with Council for Health and Development, Alliance of Health Workers, Health Alliance for Democracy, Health Workers Party-List, Philippine Medical Students Association, and Philippine Nursing Students Association was held on September 13, 2025. Moderated by Dr. Jillian Francise Lee (co-convenor of CPRH), resource speakers Rep. Antonio L. Tinio (ACT Teachers Partylist and member of the 20th Congress), and Dr. Angela Sison-Aguilar (Professor at the University of the Philippines - Philippine General Hospital), discussed the link between congressional insertions in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) 2026 and ghost flood control projects, as well as concrete actions that the public can take to hold the government accountable.
The numbers speak in Rep. Tinioโs talk on unprogrammed appropriations, which are pre-approved budget items dependent on the inflow of additional revenues outside of the NEP. The sharp increase in these stand-by appropriations is a key indicator of the sheer number of pork barrel projects being inserted into the national budget.
Through the modus โBawas, Dagdag, Habolโ, Rep. Tinio explained that the salary increase of government workers in 2024 was relocated to unprogrammed appropriations to create P89.9-B worth of space for DPWHโs flood control projects among other congressional insertions. After a 7-8 month delay, the salary increase was eventually supplied by PhilHealthโs unused funds held in the National Treasury.
Amidst finger-pointing at congressmen behind these controversial insertions, Rep. Tinio emphasized that the executive branch of government is not innocent either. The Cabinet Secretaries will submit errata, disguising congressional insertions as their own amendments to the National Expenditure Program. Rep. Tinio forewarns, then, that the revised DPWH budget, expected by Sept. 15, is sure to include congressional insertions.
โHabang hindi po nababago ang sistema na ito, kung saan ang national budget ay itinuturing na spoils na pinaghahati-hatian, pinagpaparti-partehan ng mga pulitikoโฆay mauulit at mauulit ito.โ
The second resource speaker, Dr. Angela Sison-Aguilar, stated that corruption in government spending is not merely a matter of losing money; it siphons resources, worsens inequalities, and takes lives in healthcare. She then encouraged Filipinos to turn awareness into action.
She pointed out warning signs that must not be ignored: huge budget overruns on unexplained projects, phantom projects, repeated stock-outs of essential medicines despite the growing budgets, and over and over again, contracts that are being granted lacking the necessary procurement transparency. Dr. Sison-Aguilar emphasized that these things deprive communities of essential services and erode public trust.
But recognition alone is not enough. Dr. Sison-Aguilar urged communities to demand responsibility, and strengthen supervision through independent audits and accessible procurement data in order to combat corruption. She went on to say that true prevention calls for more than just policy; it also calls for open procurement regulations, a zero-tolerance ethical culture, and political financing changes to break the cycle at its source.
She delivered a challenge, a call to action: policymakers must enact procurement laws, health leaders must embed compliance and transparency in their institutions, and citizens must demand accountability using all tools available.
During the open forum, the following organizations voiced their concerns over the countryโs state of health: Ruth Alinsangao of Community-Based Health Program in Iloilo, Joshua Phillip Solomon from National Childrenโs Hospital Employees Association-Alliance of Health Workers, , Aly Villahermosa from Philippine Nursing Students Association, Philippine Nursing Students Associationand Dennick John Rosale from Philippine Orthopedic Center-Filipino Nurses United.
They brought up concerns over the corruption that is felt at the local level in the form of incomplete and underutilized health facilities, struggling devolved hospitals, supplies that never seem to get to patients, and crucial medications that are either overused or left to expire. The discussion also laid bare how the Guaranteed Letters (GLs), instead of serving as lifelines to patients, often ends up being twisted into a tool for political patronage.
Dr. Edelina de la Paz, chairperson of the Health Alliance for Democracy synthesized the discussion with clear calls: allocation of at least 5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), for the dismantling of the pork barrel system and patronage politics, for holding perpetrators of corruption accountable along with the recovery of the stolen public funds, strengthening a public health system that directly serves the people, and addressing the root causes of poverty and disease through genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization. Unity and collective action are pushed forward as systemic corruption is fought through organized struggle, and one can start by way of signing the petition.
๐๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป:
๐ฃ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ธ๐ฎ๐น๐๐๐๐ด๐ฎ๐ป
Sign the petition: https://forms.gle/bUXnctox3VstcRwr8
๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐. ๐ฎ๐ญ, ๐ต:๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐๐๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ, ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐น๐ฎ
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