Press Release
May 30, 2018

Statement of Partido Liberal president Sen. Francis Pangilinan on PhilHealth funds

Bare conjectures, no factual proof. This best describes the news story that PhilHealth funds were diverted and "supposedly" (the word in the lead paragraph) used for the Liberal Party campaign. When you read the entire story, it stands only on mere suspicion, and not on the definitive declaration of the headline.

Contrary to the news report, no PhilHealth funds were involved and no diversion happened, as former Secretary Butch Abad said. He explained that the amount, which involved unused funds intended for salaries and benefits for unfilled or new positions (known as the Miscellaneous Personnel and Benefit Fund or MPBF), was used to construct barangay health stations and rural health units.

These are trying times, especially for truth. We appeal to journalists to be more thorough in the practice of their socially useful work: to foster a citizenry so informed that they can make intelligent decisions about their lives, communities, and governments.

Headlines that grab attention for their lies do not serve journalism's noble purpose, especially now when there are deliberate, systematic attempts to divert the public's attention away from the issues that confront our people's lives and livelihood.

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