AnaKalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray T. Reyes expressed concern over reports saying the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) is operating its antivirus software on a one-month subscription.
“Parang trial version lang? Ilang buwan na po ang lumipas nang unang maireport itong data breach at ang solusyon nila sa problema ay one month subscription ng anti-virus software?” he said.
The lawmaker said the data leak would have been easily prevented if Philhealth prioritized strengthening its cybersecurity measures over increasing its executives’ pay.
Reyes also scored Philhealth officials for blaming the new government procurement guidelines for the non-renewal of its antivirus software.
“The expiry of the antivirus software is on you. Way before it expired, you could have done what was needed to ensure data protection,” he said.
The lawmaker said the data leak would have been easily prevented if Philhealth prioritized strengthening its cybersecurity measures over increasing its executives’ pay.
“Inuna nyo kasi ang umento, imbes na antivirus nyo,” Reyes said.
Reyes is referring to the Commission on Audit’s 2022 report which showed Philhealth executives tripling their salaries in 2022, with some earning up to P500,000 monthly.
He said the data leak further underscores the fact that the Philhealth officials’ pay hike is both ill-timed and undeserved.
“Ang mandato ng Philhealth ay pasegurong solusyon sa problemang pangkalusugan. Bakit ngayon puro problema ang bigay nito sa bayan?” he said.
“Hindi kailangang magdusa ng Pilipino, dahil sa kapabayaan laban sa Medusa ng iilang tao,” he added.
