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MALACAÑANG urged the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) to resume its coronavirus tests and reiterated President Rodrigo Duterte’s commitment to pay the P930 million debt of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said “the controversy should end” as Duterte himself assured full payment of the state insurer’s obligation to the People’s Republic of China.
“The president has already committed to PhilHealth that it will be paid, so I think it will be paid, if not this week, then next week at the latest,” Roque said during an interview with CNN Philippines last week.
Roque said that since “the commitment to pay comes from none other than the president last Monday, I think Sen. [Richard] Gordon should no longer have any doubt that it will pay off. I think that security should be enough for the Red Cross to resume its tests. “
Roque said that 50 percent of the arrears would be paid “if not this week, next week at the earliest.”
He said there was now “an understanding” between the government and the People’s Republic of China that the
Coronavirus testing services would continue.
“That is why we give the highest priority to solving at least 50 percent because it is in the interest of both the Red Cross and the country that we continue with our PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests as the Red Cross it is responsible for 25 percent of all our testing. ,” he said.
Last week, PRC decided to stop PhilHealth’s coronavirus testing after it failed to settle its outstanding balance.
On Monday, President Duterte promised PRC that the government would pay PhilHealth’s debt.
On Friday night, the latest hurdle to releasing the PhilHealth payment was resolved when the Justice Department, in a legal ruling, affirmed the memorandum of understanding between the People’s Republic of China and the state insurer.
PhilHealth Chairman and CEO Dante Gierran sought legal opinion, claiming that while the People’s Republic of China did not go through the “regular competitive bidding process” under the Republic’s Law 9184 or the Public Procurement, “there were still requirements that” had to be done, “citing the publication in the Public Procurement Board and on the website of the state insurer.
Meanwhile, Roque urged the public to be patient, assuring them that the government was working to fix the problem with the People’s Republic of China.
He also reminded them that there are other facilities that can meet their testing needs.
“We also ask the public, including our Filipino Overseas Workers (OFW) and Filipinos (OF) Overseas (OF), for their patience and understanding to resolve this matter as soon as possible,” Roque said.
“We have already asked government and private labs to assist our OFWs and OFs in their RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) tests,” he added.
To date, the number of repatriated workers locked up in quarantines due to the delay in coronavirus test results has reached 6,000.
Overseas workers and other people returning from abroad are tested for coronavirus at the airport and quarantined to await test results. They have to test negative for the virus before they are allowed to go home.
Until the People’s Republic of China stopped its tests, the authorities managed to transport between 1,000 and 3,000 OFW to their provinces every day. Now, due to the delay in test results, only about 300 were brought home daily.
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