A fake quote card featuring Sen. Risa Hontiveros has gone viral on social media, as a petition to remove the new mandatory rate for overseas workers’ Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) contribution gained traction.
The infographic falsely shows a September 2017 photo of Hontiveros superimposed with the fabricated sentence, “Karapat dapat lang patawan ng karagdagan bayad ng mga Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) ang PHILHEALTH tutal Dollars naman yung kinikita nila (Overseas Filipino Workers [OFWs] deserve the increase in contributions because they earn in dollars).” A breakdown of the important points in the PhilHealth circular on the subject has been attached to the image.
There are no records of Hontiveros or any lawmaker or official supporting increased health insurance payments. She has denied this in a statement on her official social media accounts, calling the quote card “fake.”
She instead urged the PhilHealth, the Department of Health and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency to review the guidelines and consider the “economic plight” of OFWs especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The senator has been repeatedly a target of disinformation involving PhilHealth. In 2018, wrong and unsubstantiated online posts implicated Hontiveros in the PhilHealth bonuses controversy. (See: Online posts claiming Hontiveros involved in PhilHealth bonuses mess FALSE)
On April 2, PhilHealth finalized its guidelines for implementing the new rate of contributions from OFWs from year 2020-2025. From 2.75% per month in 2019, the rate will increase incrementally to 3% in 2020, reaching 5% in 2025.
A change.org petition has been signed by over 300,000 individuals calling on the government to “remove” the 3% mandatory rate, describing it and its corresponding penalties for nonpayment as “unfair.”
On May 4, PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales said they have already stopped collecting Philhealth contributions due to the pandemic. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte has directed PhilHealth to make contributions of overseas workers voluntary and not mandatory.
The infographic posted by a netizen on Facebook has been shared almost 500 times on Facebook.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
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