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Government attempts to pay the P930 million owed by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) remain stalled, as the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) reported that the processing of swab samples from returning underage workers has stalled. yet to resume.
The People’s Republic of China has yet to announce the resumption of reverse transcription polymerase reaction (RT-PCR) testing even after President Rodrigo R. Duterte has already pledged to pay off PhilHealth’s debt.
At least 6,000 OFWs are stranded in the National Capital Region (NCR) while they await the release of their test results.
Legal opinion
The Secretary of Labor and Employment, Silvestre H. Bello III, revealed that PhilHealth is still awaiting the opinion of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on its legal concerns about the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that it signed with PRC for the conduct of the test RT-PCR.
In an SMS, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told BusinessMirror that they are prioritizing the PhilHealth request and expect to release their legal opinion on the matter within a week.
This was also confirmed by presidential spokesman Harry Roque, who said that the government has sufficient funds to pay PhilHealth’s debt and that it only needs to process the necessary “paper jobs” before it can do so.
Advance payment option
But due to the large amount of debt, he said the government will initially only be able to pay half of the amount.
“You’re talking about half a billion ‘no. So, I understand that the Red Cross cannot continue to function unless it also has its cash requirements’ no. And that’s why we give top priority to solving at least 50 percent, ”Roque said in a television interview with CNN Philippines.
Bello said they are open to using their funds to help PhilHealth pay the amount it owes PhilHealth.
“We can pay in advance, but we need to be reimbursed later,” Bello said in an online briefing on Wednesday.
Assembly costs
DOLE expects the number of stranded OFWs to exceed 6,000 by next week if the government does not pay the amount owed by PhilHealth to PRC in the coming days.
Bello said he hopes PhilHealth can finally pay off its debt to the People’s Republic of China within the week to avoid additional expenses for accommodation and food for stranded foreign workers.
Since PRC stopped performing RT-PCR tests, which are paid for by PhilHealth, last week, publishing the OFW test result now takes 5 to 7 days, from just 3 to 4 days before.
“This means that we have to pay three additional days [of accommodation] this week, ”Hans Cacdac, administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), told BusinessMirror in a telephone interview. “We can calculate this additional expense next week.”
