₱48-Billion Medical Assistance Fund Cannot Substitute for Fully Funded PhilHealth

NAGKAISA Labor Coalition strongly condemns the budget priorities reflected in the FY 2027 national budget approved by the House of Representatives on second reading, which expand medical assistance while leaving PhilHealth without the additional funding it says it needs.

Under the version approved on second reading, the Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients Program (MAIFIP) is increased to approximately ₱48 billion, while PhilHealth’s allocation remains at the National Expenditure Program level: ₱55 billion for premium subsidies and ₱19 billion for benefit improvements.

This is despite PhilHealth’s request for an additional ₱170 billion to cover the projected cost of claims for indirect contributors, including indigent Filipinos, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities. PhilHealth President and CEO Beverly Lorraine Ho told lawmakers that projected claims for indirect contributors could reach ₱244 billion, against the ₱74 billion allocated in the NEP.

This funding gap is not new. It reflects years of inadequate government financing for universal healthcare.

In a May 2025 analysis published by Action for Economic Reforms (AER), public health specialist Dr. Jeepy Perez argued that Congress had deprived PhilHealth of funds needed to implement key elements of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law from 2023 to 2025. AER further cited data showing that, in 2023, only two-thirds of PhilHealth’s budget allocation for indirect and indigent members was released, even as claims for these members exceeded the allocation.

The medical community has raised similar concerns. In July 2026, a coalition of 75 medical organizations urged the government to fully fund PhilHealth, saying the state insurer remained severely underfunded despite rising benefit payments. The groups noted that the Executive branch had provided only one-fifth of PhilHealth’s required budget in 2025.

These warnings make the current budget choice especially troubling. Rather than decisively addressing years of underfunding, the version approved by the House on second reading substantially expands medical assistance while leaving PhilHealth’s allocation unchanged from the Executive’s proposal.

NAGKAISA recognizes that medical assistance can provide immediate relief to families struggling with hospital bills. But assistance dispensed on a case-by-case basis is not a substitute for a properly financed universal healthcare system that guarantees coverage according to people’s needs and entitlements.

The expansion of MAIFIP alongside the failure to close PhilHealth’s funding gap raises serious concerns about continued reliance on a system in which sick Filipinos must seek assistance to pay for medical care. Such a system risks leaving vulnerable families dependent on discretionary decisions and political intermediaries instead of being able to rely on clear, enforceable healthcare entitlements.

“Politicians should not be able to present themselves as benefactors dispensing medical assistance when government has a duty to guarantee healthcare as a right,” NAGKAISA said.

NAGKAISA denounces the apparent prioritization of politicians’ penchant for patronage politics over the full financing of PhilHealth and Universal Health Care. We cannot ignore the political incentives built into a system where patients must seek help for their hospital bills while the public insurance institution mandated to protect them remains underfunded.

Universal healthcare must not depend on which politician can provide assistance, whose office a patient approaches, or whose intervention can secure a hospital bill’s payment. It must depend on a properly funded public system that protects people because healthcare is their right.

NAGKAISA therefore calls on Congress to substantially increase PhilHealth funding as deliberations on the FY 2027 national budget continue, address the estimated ₱170-billion funding gap, and ensure that the final budget strengthens rather than undermines the Universal Health Care system.

Public funds must finance public entitlements—not entrench political patronage.

Healthcare is a right, not a political favor. Fully fund PhilHealth. Defend Universal Health Care.

MYANMAR NEEDS MORE THAN ASEAN CONCERN NAGKAISA CALLS FOR ACTION UNDER ILO ARTICLE 33

Nagkaisa calls on the Philippine government to go beyond expressing concern over the reported airstrike in Kyauktaw, Rakhine State, that killed 50 people and injured dozens more.

The attack is the latest manifestation of a devastating conflict that has reportedly killed around 100,000 people and displaced more than 3.5 million. Reuters report

Expressing concern is not enough. Monitoring is not enough. As ASEAN chair, the Philippines must act.

Nagkaisa calls on the Philippine government to recognize the National Unity Government (NUG) as the legitimate representative of the democratic forces of Myanmar and engage it directly in shaping the regional response to the crisis.

The Philippines should also implement, on its own and together with other ASEAN member states, the measures adopted under Article 33 of the ILO Constitution concerning Myanmar. These measures were adopted after the ILO Commission of Inquiry found grave violations of freedom of association and the prohibition of forced labour.

For Nagkaisa, this means using the Philippines’ diplomatic and economic relations to ensure that they do not enable, facilitate or prolong violations of workers’ rights. It also means pressing for the protection of Myanmar’s independent trade unions and the release of detained trade unionists and labor activists.

ASEAN has repeatedly expressed concern over the violence and the lack of progress in implementing its Five-Point Consensus. The continuing bloodshed shows that statements alone are not enough.

As ASEAN chair, the Philippines should use its leadership to build regional support for democratic forces, humanitarian protection and workers’ rights—and to ensure that the ILO’s Article 33 measures are actually acted upon.

Myanmar needs more than ASEAN concern. Its people and workers need governments to take a clear stand and concrete action.

SAFE AND HEALTHY WORKPLACES ARE A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE NAGKAISA!

MANILA — The biggest labor coalition in the country, the NAGKAISA! stands firmly for the full protection of every worker’s right to a safe and healthy workplace following the alarming report that two workers of Davao Mighty Steel Corporation reportedly tested positive for high radiation exposure, according to findings of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The reported findings are especially disturbing because this is not the first recent incident involving radioactive hazards in a Philippine steel plant.

Only a few months ago, in May 2026, authorities raided Philippine Sanjia-Steel Corporation in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, where the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) confirmed elevated radioactivity in parts of the facility. Reports also raised serious concerns over the protection provided to workers against potential radiation hazards.

Two incidents within a matter of months should set off alarm bells—not only radiation detectors.

NAGKAISA! urges the government to determine whether these incidents are isolated violations or symptoms of a wider problem involving the sourcing and handling of scrap metal and other raw materials, workplace monitoring, occupational safety enforcement, and the manufacture and distribution of steel products.

Occupational safety and health is not merely a compliance requirement. It is a fundamental workers’ right and a shared obligation of employers and the State. No worker should ever be forced to choose between earning a living and protecting their life and health.

Atty. Sonny G. Matula stressed that the effective implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Law must remain at the center of workplace policy and practice.“The law is clear: employers must provide a safe and healthy workplace and inform workers of hazards that threaten their life and health. Radiation may be invisible, but an employer’s responsibility cannot be. Trabaho ang pinapasukan ng manggagawa, hindi danger zone. Every worker who clocks in deserves to clock out safe and healthy and return home to their family,” Matula said.

Santiago “Ka Santi” Nolla likewise emphasized that occupational safety and health is a fundamental principle and right at work.“The right to a safe and healthy workplace is a fundamental principle and right at work recognized by the International Labour Organization. Occupational safety and health is not optional, nor can it be compromised in the name of profit or productivity. Every worker has the right to return home safe and healthy after every working day,” Nolla said.

NAGKAISA! therefore calls for a thorough and transparent investigation into the reported radiation exposure involving the Davao Mighty Steel workers; full accountability for any violations of occupational safety and health laws and standards; immediate protection, appropriate medical assistance and continuing health monitoring for affected workers; and strict implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Law in all workplaces.

The Coalition likewise calls on the DOLE, PNRI, DENR and other appropriate government agencies to examine the Davao and Misamis Oriental incidents together and determine whether stronger nationwide inspection, radiation monitoring, and regulation of steel plants, scrap-metal inputs and related industries are necessary.

Workers and their unions must have meaningful participation in workplace OSH mechanisms. Enforcement and accountability must be strengthened, and concrete measures must be taken to prevent workplace accidents, illnesses, injuries, hazardous exposure and deaths.

A safe and healthy workplace is not a privilege. It is a fundamental right. Workers should bring home their wages—not workplace hazards. 

NAGKAISA to Hong Kong: You Can Imprison A Union Leader, But You Cannot Imprison the Truth!

NAGKAISA! strongly condemns the Hong Kong court’s conviction of veteran trade unionist and democracy advocate Lee Cheuk-yan and activist Chow Hang-tung for “inciting others to subvert state power.”

This is not justice. It is the criminalization of peaceful dissent, democratic advocacy and the right to speak truth to power.

Lee is a longtime trade unionist and former general secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU). His conviction strikes at a principle fundamental to the labor movement: Unions cannot defend workers if democracy itself is criminalized.

The prosecution did not establish that Lee or Chow planned violence or sought to overthrow the government through unlawful means. Their alleged crime was their advocacy for democracy, including the Alliance’s call to end one-party rule and its peaceful commemoration of the Tiananmen victims.

Since when is calling for democracy “subversion”? Since when is remembering the dead a crime?

NAGKAISA! rejects the use of national-security laws to silence trade unionists, activists and civil society. 

An attack on one unionist is an attack on all unionists.

We stand in solidarity with Lee Cheuk-yan, Chow Hang-tung and the people of Hong Kong who continue to defend freedom, democracy and the right to organize.

They may imprison Lee. They may silence a voice. But they cannot imprison the workers’ struggle or erase the truth.

DEFEND DEMOCRACY!

FREE LEE CHEUK-YAN!