Resolution meant to 'correct bad policy'

• Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1741486/Cagayan-De-Oro/Local-News/Resolution-meant-to-correct-bad-policy
• Saturday, May 5, 2018

By PJ ORIAS

CITY Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya on Thursday, May 3, clarified that the resolution that was passed on Monday reaffirming the city government's support to the PhilHealth program aims to correct the "bad policy" of the then Padayon Pilipino-dominated city council.

City Council's majority floor leader Nacaya said the passed resolution was not meant to help the mayor to supposedly get away from his wrongdoings, but it was done to correct the "errors of the past.”

Nacaya said the previous city council almost zeroed the budget allocation for City Mayor Oscar Moreno's priority program.

Moreno's PhilHealth program has since enrolled some 85,000 "poorest of the poor" residents of Cagayan de Oro. In 2015, the previous council however did not allocate a budget for the city's PhilHealth program.

"Tungod sa atong resolution, kung aduna pay gipangresibohan sa PhilHealth nga wala pa nato nabayran, angayan na nga mabayaran (Under the resolution, if there are still people who were not paid but were given receipts by Philhealth, they will be paid)," Nacaya said

Nacaya added that the resolution was not illegal, insisting that the City Council s allowed to modify previous actions regardless of the members, citing that the council is a continuing organization.

If mayor Moreno indeed committed mistakes in the PhilHealth implementation, Nacaya said the resolution holds no power to correct those mistakes.

"The resolution passed was about the continuity of the program, not about the cases, we just corrected the error of the past because it was a bad policy and done in a political move," he said.

Nacaya said the city's health program also benefited city health centers and improved maternal care and delivery services.

"The question should be, why did the previous council gave zero budget to a priority program? A healthy population translates to healthy human resource, healthy economy. And the city council now is all out in supporting programs that are good for our people," he said.

The majority of the city councilors voted to pass the resolution that ratified and confirmed the city government's payment to the Philhealth premiums through the annual and supplemental budgets and executive orders issued prior to and after the approval of the said resolution.

Gan and Councilor Nadya Emano-Elipe, voted against the passage of the resolution. Gan said the resolution would mean that the City Council, in one way or another, absolved the mayor for a fault or wrongdoing, that is, paying PhilHealth premium contributions without the approval of the previous council.

Asked for comment, Moreno said Gan's allegations are "obnoxious and preposterous," and "not worth the dignity of a response."

Although the city already spent millions of pesos for the health program, Moreno said the returns for this particular investment are four times bigger.

"For this investment, our returns are at least 4 times: Philhealth payments for both health facility and medical personnel, per family payment rate, and the amount corresponding to the services to our people which are provided free because of the Philhealth enrollment," Moreno said.