00:00The rise tariffication law amendments and the preparations of the Agri sector for the entry of La Nina in the country.
00:07We will discuss this with Agri party list representative Wilbert Lee.
00:13Congressman Lee, good afternoon.
00:16Good afternoon Nina, good afternoon Usec March, good afternoon to all of our viewers and listeners, good afternoon to all of you.
00:26The deliberation of the Camera continues on the amendment of the rise tariffication law.
00:32What do you expect to discuss this week?
00:37Well, actually, it is already in the third reading.
00:40This is just one and we expect that it will be passed as soon as possible
00:46because this is a certified urgent bill of our President.
00:50We are happy here because our government is proactive here
00:54so that these diseases or diseases of our farmers, our countrymen,
01:03about the local food products and our local consumers can be completely eradicated.
01:09This is good and we expect this to be passed.
01:14Congressman Lee, sir, let's talk about PhilHealth.
01:18What prompted you to implement the 30 percent increase
01:23and now you are continuing to increase the unlimited coverage. Is that right?
01:30Well Nina, Usec, I came from the hearing of the Committee on Health.
01:35This is one of the hot issues right now.
01:38We started this during the last budget hearing in September
01:42because that's when we discussed this.
01:45We discussed this because when I went around, I found out that
01:50aside from food, one of the concerns of our countrymen is about health.
01:55When they get sick, they have no money to pay for the hospital,
01:58no money to buy medicine, their income is affected,
02:01all the savings are in debt.
02:03So that's where we started.
02:05Now, I just came from there.
02:07This is what we said again.
02:09We saw that in the Committee on Health, there are a lot of bills that were received.
02:14We discussed how to invest the excess money of PhilHealth.
02:19Like what I said earlier, PhilHealth has a lot of money.
02:23They invested Php 466 billion in different banks
02:28and they earned Php 100 billion last year
02:32and the government is giving a Php 100 billion subsidy.
02:36So what I said there, instead of talking about where to invest the excess money,
02:42we should talk about how to increase the rate of services given by PhilHealth,
02:49how to expand the benefits of each Filipino.
02:53This is what we really want to do.
02:56We want to do full coverage of diseases like cancer, heart disease, stroke,
03:01these are the dialysis, we want this to be full coverage.
03:06Even though the dialysis is only for 156 sessions,
03:10but what PhilHealth is giving is only Php 2,600.
03:15We know that if you do dialysis every session, it can reach up to Php 4,500.
03:21So that's a big deficit.
03:22So what we want to do is for this to be full coverage.
03:26Aside from that, we want to expand the so-called no balance billing
03:30and really implement this.
03:31Because this is not happening.
03:33Even though this is in our universal health care law,
03:36this is not being followed by no balance billing.
03:39So that's what we're really fighting for.
03:42Because we want the rich to be poor,
03:44the rich should have the right to live,
03:47while the poor should be bankrupted.
03:49So that's what we want to do.
03:52Nina and Yusek should really leave.
03:54If they don't leave,
03:56the worries of every Filipino about diseases will be reduced.
04:01It's good that you mentioned this.
04:03I'm sure our countrymen will be happy,
04:05especially with their high expenses,
04:09like the mentioned dialysis and cancer.
04:12Do you mean to say, Congressman,
04:15for example, when it comes to dialysis,
04:17when you say full coverage,
04:19most patients need this for life.
04:24So they can get free dialysis for the rest of their lives.
04:28When it comes to cancer,
04:30do you mean all chemotherapy treatments,
04:34for example,
04:35until they fight it and survive the cancer,
04:39including what you're proposing?
04:43You're right, Yusek and Nina.
04:45What we really want to happen here,
04:47like dialysis,
04:48what we want to happen,
04:49even though this is 156 sessions every year,
04:53but when you do dialysis,
04:55the answer of the PhilHealth is 2,600.
04:58So you need to answer the medicines here
05:01and the other expenses that reach 4,200 to 4,500.
05:07What we want to happen is for this to be full coverage.
05:10And when it comes to cancer,
05:12not all cancer medicines,
05:15we know that there are a lot of new medicines when it comes to cancer.
05:20However, not all of these are covered.
05:22The coverage of cancer now,
05:25depending on the type of cancer,
05:28is from P100,000 to P600,000.
05:30What will happen if this coverage is depleted?
05:34You can't say that next year,
05:36you will be able to get treatment again
05:37and the cancer treatment will be an installment.
05:40It can't be like that.
05:41Heart disease, coronary heart bypass,
05:45has a coverage of P550,000
05:47and it reaches P1.6 million.
05:49What about the lack?
05:51So where will we get this?
05:52What we want to happen is for all of these to be covered by PhilHealth.
05:56When it comes to cancer,
05:58I said earlier in the committee hearing,
06:01the technology of MRI, CT scan, and PET scan has been around for a long time.
06:05These are diagnostic scans that are used in the first step
06:10to know what stage of your cancer is.
06:13But this is not yet covered.
06:15So what we want to happen here is for all of these to be covered by PhilHealth.
06:20PhilHealth has a lot of money.
06:22It should be used, used up, if necessary,
06:25for the expansion of benefits.
06:28It should not be discussed here
06:30where PhilHealth will invest the excess money.
06:34Because PhilHealth is not an investment company.
06:37It is a health insurance provider for our Filipinos, for all.
06:41Okay. Let's go back to what we mentioned earlier,
06:45the RISE Tarification Law Amendment.
06:49Do you think that the amendment will be passed in the House and Senate
06:54before the Sine-DA adjournment this week?
06:58Well, here in the House,
07:01we expect that it will be passed today or tomorrow.
07:05In the Senate, we have a call
07:10that they should pass it.
07:12The good thing here in the RTL,
07:14what I want to mention here,
07:16is the return of the mandate of the NFA.
07:20We return the mandate to the NFA
07:23to buy rice at a high price
07:27for our local farmers.
07:29And they can sell it at a cheaper price
07:32when the price of rice in the market is high.
07:36They are the equalizer.
07:38If you remember,
07:40during that time, there was a rice retailer,
07:43the NFA Rice Retailer.
07:45Under the RTL,
07:48the mandate of the NFA was lost.
07:51Their mandate was to buy rice for buffer stock.
07:55This is the most important thing that we want to return
07:58to the amendment of this RTL law.
08:01That is what we want to happen,
08:03to return the mandate of the NFA
08:06to buy at a higher price and sell at a cheaper price.
08:09Congressman,
08:11for you,
08:13what are the other ways
08:15or measures that can be done
08:17to lower the price of rice in the country?
08:21Well, for me,
08:23we have three measures
08:25that we think are very important.
08:29This is what we call House Bill 9020,
08:32our Cheaper Rice Act,
08:34where it will mandate
08:36to the NFA,
08:38to the government,
08:40to buy rice from our local farmers
08:42who will add 5 pesos
08:44to 10 pesos
08:46per kilo
08:48in farm gate price.
08:50This will ensure
08:52that our local farmers,
08:54our local food security soldiers
08:56will have income.
08:58They will ensure
09:00that no matter what happens,
09:02our country will not depend on importation.
09:06They will ensure
09:08that we will have food,
09:10no matter what happens,
09:12even if there is a war.
09:14They will ensure
09:16that we will have food,
09:18so we should take care of them,
09:20our local food security soldiers.
09:22Aside from that,
09:24I have a post-harvest support facility act
09:26or House Bill 3958
09:28where it is stated
09:30that the government
09:32should build
09:34many post-harvest facilities
09:36because this is a lack
09:38that we are seeing.
09:40Sometimes, the mangoes
09:42are thrown away,
09:44the onions that are rotting,
09:46the products
09:48that we don't know
09:50where to bring them.
09:52Aside from that,
09:54we also signed a House Bill
09:56which is the Kadiwa Act.
09:58This is what we want to happen,
10:00House Bill 3957
10:02to institutionalize the whole country
10:04so that market linkages
10:06can be built.
10:08We will avoid
10:10products from different places
10:12because we don't know
10:14where to bring them.
10:16With the enactment
10:18of this House Bill,
10:20we will ensure
10:22that Kadiwa in the whole Philippines
10:24can be built,
10:26given a fund,
10:28any administration
10:30can bring products
10:32to our farmers.
10:34Alright,
10:36Cong, yesterday,
10:38President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
10:40shared
10:42his complaint
10:44to agrarian reform beneficiaries.
10:46What can you say
10:48about the government's effort
10:50to give land to farmers?
10:52I am happy
10:54because we can see
10:56that the government's priority
10:58is agriculture.
11:00This is a new agrarian emancipation act.
11:02We are the principal
11:04author of this act.
11:06I am happy because
11:08this act gives
11:10to our farmers
11:12more than
11:14600,000
11:16agrarian reform beneficiaries
11:18in their loans.
11:20I am happy about this,
11:22but as I said,
11:24it should not end there.
11:27We should not end
11:29just by giving land.
11:31We should not
11:33neglect them.
11:35We should help them
11:37when it is time to give them
11:39financial aid.
11:41We should ensure
11:43that if they become farmers,
11:45they will earn money.
11:47If they do not become farmers,
11:49they will be in debt
11:51and lose money.
11:53That should not happen.
11:55We should not neglect them
11:57by passing
11:59the policies
12:01that will help them.
12:03As I mentioned earlier,
12:05the Cheaper Rice Act,
12:07the KADIWA Act,
12:09and the Post Harvest Support Facility Act
12:11will help them.
12:13Do you have a message
12:15to our fellow countrymen?
12:17First of all,
12:19thank you
12:21for inviting me.
12:23I consider myself
12:25a debtor
12:27of the government's services
12:29to our fellow countrymen.
12:31I believe
12:33that we are in the government.
12:35We should not be burdened.
12:37We should be the ones to do things.
12:39The government should be an enabler.
12:41We should not be the ones
12:43to be burdened.
12:45We should be the ones to do things
12:47so that everyone can become a farmer.
12:49Having said that,
12:51we should demand better.
12:53We should demand better services
12:55from our government.
12:57We should not be content
12:59with what we already have.
13:01We should all demand better services
13:03from the government.
13:05We should all demand better
13:07because we all deserve better.
13:09I will just mention
13:11that if you need medical assistance,
13:13wheelchairs,
13:15or other medical assistance,
13:17you can message us on our Facebook page.
13:19Thank you.
13:21What are these Facebook pages, Congressman?
13:23You can
13:25log in
13:27or follow
13:29my official
13:31Facebook page,
13:33congressmanwilberttili
13:35or facebook page
13:37of AgriPartyList.
13:39Thank you very much
13:41Usec again
13:43for inviting me.
13:45I hope that we can
13:47pave the way
13:49for a society where we are the winners.
13:51Thank you very much
13:53for your time, AgriPartyList
13:55Representative Wilbert Li.
13:57Thank you very much.
