Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas lamented the budget cuts to the health, education, and agriculture sectors in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
In a pastoral commentary dated 14 January, the former Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president decried the zero subsidy given to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
“I have sought enlightenment from those in the know on this matter, and, while it seems that those insured – who, under the concept of ‘universal health care’ ought to include every Filipino – will still be able to enjoy the benefits this system of health insurance guarantees, still, Congress would have done well to increase both the extent as well as the coverage of benefits,” Villegas said.
“I have been told that one of the reasons for this development was PhilHealth’s poor ‘absorptive capacity’ – which simply means that it did not spend enough! This is appalling because there are so many who suffer and die without the benefit of competent medical care and effective medicines because of poverty – and yet, a government agency tasked with ensuring that health services are available, especially to those who cannot afford it, has been sluggish in expending resources for those in greatest need,” he added.
Under Republic Act No. 12116, or the 2025 General Appropriations Act, the state-run health insurer, an attached agency of the Department of Health, did not receive an allocation for budgetary support from the government.
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr., who signed the budget law on 30 December, justified Congress’ decision to remove the subsidy, noting that PhilHealth had ample reserve funds that could be used for its operations and healthcare insurance coverage.
In a press briefing last year, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said PhilHealth had P280 billion in reserve funds, a surplus of P150 billion, and over P400 billion in investments.
Villegas also expressed dismay that the budget allocated to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), an agency he called “repeatedly excoriated for incidences of graft and corruption,” was higher than the budget given to the Department of Education.
The education sector has been allocated the largest cut from the budget, with funding amounting to P1.055 trillion.
Meanwhile, the DPWH was allocated P1.007 trillion.
The Archbishop also decried the deep budget cuts to the allocations for social services and economic services, including agrarian reform and agriculture.
“Farmers are a beleaguered lot in our country. Their fortunes are bound to the uncertainties of weather and climate, as well as to man-made burdens such as the uncontrolled importation of agricultural goods that cause the prices of farm products to hit rock-bottom!” he lamented.
“While we are witnesses, even now, to the prodigal spending of politicians seeking re-election, our farmers must sink deeper into debt in order to produce what little they can from the soil, to sell them to middlemen who pay for them at the lowest prices possible and sell them at the highest prices they can command. This is the structural injustice about which the Church cannot be silent,” he added.