By Liza Soriano
AnaKalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray T. Reyes expressed concern over the data leak occured in the system of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth), stressing that the agency prioritized executives’ salaries than establishing a sound cybersecurity.
The lawmaker said the incident would have been easily prevented if Philhealth prioritized strengthening its cybersecurity measures over increasing its executives’ pay.
“Inuna n’yo kasi ang umento, imbes na antivirus n’yo,” Reyes said.
A 2022 report 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?” the lawmaker said.
“Hindi kailangang magdusa ang Pilipino, dahil sa kapabayaan laban sa Medusa ng iilang tao,” Reyes added.
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 pointed out.
(ai/mnm)
