MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Magandang umaga, Malacañang Press Corps, and welcome sa ating press briefing ngayong araw, October the 24th.

During the sectoral meeting led by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. this morning, the health department gave an update on the implementation of the Universal Health Care Act. The President approved the creation of a Universal Health Care Coordinating Council led by the national government in cooperation with local government units and other agencies in order to rollout healthcare functions within a well-integrated system. Among the points discussed were the cooperation of the DOH and DILG in ensuring good governance, capacity building and delivery of health services by local government units.

The second meeting, the energy department also presented the steps the government is taking to mitigate high oil prices.

And to tell us more about these, we have with us today health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa and energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla. Good morning, Secretaries.

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: Good morning.

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: Good morning.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Let’s start with Secretary Herbosa, please.

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: Good morning, everyone.

This morning, I presented the updates on the Universal Health Care Act of 2019 to our President. The UHC law was enacted on February 2019 and the vision was progressive realization that can be achieved through a systems approach, clear role delineation of stakeholders and ensure equitable access and affordable healthcare and protection without financial risk.

To give a background, we had once a very highly-centralized healthcare system – this was devolved because of the Local Government Code of 1991. The DOH maintained this role as steward of national policies, plans, standards and regulations but healthcare now is delivered in a fragmented system of more than a thousand LGUs. Under the Universal Health Care Act, the DOH, the DILG, PhilHealth and the local government units will endeavor to integrate, and that’s the keyword ‘no, integrate into province and citywide health systems.

I’ve provided the following updates to the President: Since 2021 after the law was passed, 71 LGUs have committed to integrate their local health systems – these were called Universal Health Care Integration Sites and consisted of 59 provinces and 12 highly-urbanized cities or about 66 or 93% of those that initiated preparations for integration and are gearing for full functional implementation of the integration plans and access to an integrated health system by its constituents.

Also starting this year, 2023, we already engaged five UHC integration sites to become primary care provider network sandbox or trials or pilots – these are Baguio, Bataan, Quezon, Guimaras and South Cotabato. And these networks, we contracted them and they are being piloted as a test-run for this network healthcare system.

We also have additional… next year, healthcare provider networks with packages for additional payment mechanisms. Since the provincial or city health boards will be managing this city-wide or province-wide health system, it is important that members of the health boards particularly governors or mayors as chair are provided the necessary capacity to manage local health systems.

The President approved the Department of Health’s proposal of creating a Universal Health Care Coordinating Council through an executive order. So, we would be crafting and drafting this, and the council will be composed of the concerned government agencies namely: the Department of Health that will serve as the council chair, the DILG as the co-chair, and the other agencies like DICT, DBM, DOF, PhilHealth, Professional Regulation Commission, NEDA and probably TESDA, CHEd and DepEd. We will standardize the health policies.

The council will serve as a national governance bodies that will oversee the implementation of Universal Health Care Act nationwide, the project and estimate total national cost for UHC, and also implementation of the Universal Health Care at local government level. It will serve as the venue to discuss relevant concerns that might be raised during the implementation of UHC.

Further, the President also instructed the DILG to expedite the review of EO138 on the implementation of the Supreme Court ruling on the Mandanas-Garcia petitions and incorporate some of these to the Universal Health Care financing reforms in the amendments.

So, the Department of Health is very pleased with the President giving full support to the department’s vision of transforming the healthcare system of the Filipino through the Universal Health Care Act. Thank you very much.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Thank you, Secretary Herbosa. Now, we have Secretary Lotilla please.

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: Thank you very much, Daphne. Magandang tanghali sa ating lahat.

The President called for the sectoral meeting in order to review the mitigating measures for high fuel prices and among those who attended the meeting were the Department of Transportation, the Department of Trade and Industry and National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Interior and Local Government and Department of Information and Communications Technology, as well as the Department of Agriculture.

So, the highlights of the meeting resulted in the following: One, the President gave instructions on changing the language of the 2024 GAA provision on fuel subsidies for the transport sector in order to shorten the trigger period from three months to one month and simplify the release requirements.

For those of you who are not familiar with the trigger period… whenever the Dubai price per barrel exceeds 80 dollars for three months, then that will be the trigger for the provision of subsidies to the transport sector drivers – public utilities including tricycle and other public utilities. So, with this simplification or shortening of the period, we will be able to release the subsidies in a shorter period of time.

The second is the simplification of the release requirements. So this time, as proposed by the Department of Budget and Management to Congress, the guidelines will need only to be agreed upon by the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Energy. And these can be released upon the finalization of the list of beneficiaries by the Department of Transportation for those which have franchises; and then by the Department of Interior and Local Government for tricycle drivers; and by the Department of Trade and Industry for delivery service drivers.

The second important point that was agreed upon was the implementation of the voluntary 20% ethanol blend for gasoline which is targeted for approval by the end of 2023. For those of you who are using gasoline, you know that we have a mandatory requirement of 10% blend of ethanol with gasoline and that the new policy that we will be implementing is voluntary and raising it to 20% – and this is primarily price mitigation measure because ethanol, especially imported ethanol, is cheaper than the price of gasoline.

So, right now, the price of gasoline without ethanol is around P56.89 then it will result in a price differential of around one peso and 28 centavos or up to even one peso and 50, depending on, of course, on the prices. The local ethanol price per liter is currently around P79.49 which is higher than the imported ethanol which is at P41.44. But local production of ethanol can only support 48% of the 10% blend, and therefore, the utilization of the highest share of imported ethanol will result in lower pump prices because of the increased blend.

And the other measure which the President wanted the government agencies to work on is the continued electrification of the transport sector particularly mass transport and light cargo vehicles.

So, the President gave emphasis on the need, one, for having the charging stations in place; second, to make sure that the benefits to the transport sector, particularly the drivers, will indeed be there. Because right now, just from a fuel standpoint, the estimated difference between electric vehicles running per kilometer and those that are internal combustion engines using gas and diesel is quite significant.

So for those using gasoline, the per kilometer run is at five pesos and thirty centavos, but for the light duty electric vehicles, it’s a range of one peso and 26 centavos to one peso and 90 centavos per kilometer; whereas, the cost for those running on diesel is at four pesos per kilometer. Of course, these are based on assumptions of the cost of gasoline at 70 per liter and the cost of diesel at 66 pesos per liter.

The President also emphasized the need for preparing the economy for the eventual manufacture of electric vehicles in the country and linking this up with the local mining sector that will produce the minerals needed for the production of batteries and other components of electric vehicles.

The other that the President and the cabinet members considered was the increase in the coco methyl ester or the coco biodiesel blend from the current two percent to three percent, which can actually be accommodated by the supply of feed stock given that the total coconut production at this time is … the entire country is at 15 billion nuts. And for the additional one percent blend, we need only an additional of 2.6 billion nuts. So on the whole, the increase in the blend can also drive down the cost of coco methyl ester because there will be a bigger market for CME. So right now, we expect at least the diesel landed price, the pure diesel, to be at parity with the price of coco methyl ester per liter.

So, I think, these are things that are good news for our consumers and our transport sector. Thank you.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Thank you, Secretary Lotilla. Questions, first, from Job Manahan ABS-CBN News Online.

JOB MANAHAN/ABS-CBN NEWS ONLINE: Good afternoon, Sir Lotilla. Sir, iyong question ko, na-mention ninyo kanina na iyong simplification of release requirements. So ano na po iyong mga requirements na kakailanganin for the fuel subsidy?

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: Well, the requirements before, that’s why it took some time for the release of the fund or the subsidies was that the Department of Transportation had to consolidate all of the list from not only those who are issued franchises by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board but also those lists coming from the Department of Interior and Local Government and the list from the Department of Trade and Industry.

So, in the case of the DILG, this would include not only the tricycle drivers but also included the jeepney drivers. But since the DILG does not have the list for jeepneys and they are with the Department of Transportation, so we are simplifying all of these requirements so that the Department of Transportation will be responsible for the list for those which are under the LTFRB, then DILG will come up with the list for those which are with the tricycle drivers under the local governments and then, DTI will take care of the rest; and that will simplify the process.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Maricel Halili, TV5.

MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Magandang umaga po, for Secretary Lotilla. Sir, you mentioned earlier iyong tungkol po sa pagbabago ng language for 2024 GAA. So from the current three months, basta nag-exceed ng 80 dollars per barrel, sa loob lang ng isang buwan ay makakakuha na ng subsidy iyong mga—

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: That will be the trigger now.

MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Opo. Sir, ano iyong wisdom dito sa instruction ni Presidente?

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: Well, it will shorten the period within which the subsidy can be released to our drivers. Because before, it would take three months, and the difference is quite obvious in terms of being able to help the transport sector.

MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Pero, sir, mayroon po ba tayong enough resources para ma-fund iyong mga beneficiaries for this?

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: Well, the Congress has—the proposal from the Executive Department for the 2024 GAA is 2.5 billion pesos. So that would suffice to cover the amounts needed.

MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Sir, last na lang. Sir, hanggang kailan po natin inaasahan iyong pagtaas ng presyo ng petrolyo? I know it is dictated by the world market, pero hanggang kailan?

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: The good news, of course, is that from the studies or the forecasts made by Platts, the gap between supply and demand is going to narrow towards the end of the year and even continue in 2024 because there are additional supplies that are coming from other countries like Brazil and the US. And the US is lifting the embargo on Venezuela, so this will be adding to the supply. And hopefully, there will be no blocks once out there; no expansion of the prices in … between Palestine and Israel that might affect the oil producing countries; there will be no further invasion of Ukraine and so on.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Sam Medenilla, Business Mirror.

SAM MEDENILLA/BUSINESS MIRROR: For Secretary Lotilla. Sir, iyong during po doon sa discussion kanina doon sa para to ma-mitigate iyong price, high oil prices, na-discuss po ba iyong possible suspension ng oil import tariff?

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: That particular item has been discussed in the past. But the Department of Finance has explained that if we are going to do that, then it would actually be much … we would also be subsidizing the richer segments of the population because their consumption of oil products is much higher than those which are consumed by those in the lower brackets. So the better approach is to have well-targeted subsidies, and that’s why we want to simplify the subsidies being given to the public transport sector, particularly the drivers.

SAM MEDENILLA/BUSINESS MIRROR: Tapos follow-up lang, sir, iyong sa projected po nila na mga measures, iyong multiple measures na na-mention ninyo kanina, ano pong potential impact noon sa oil price – iyong overall? May parang expected ba tayo na reduction sa pump prices kapag na-implement lahat?

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: Well, as we said for example in the case of increasing the ethanol blend will result in more than one peso reduction in the pump price of gasoline.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Are there any questions for Secretary Herbosa? Okay. From Rappler, Dwight de Leon.

DWIGHT DE LEON/RAPPLER: Hi, Secretary. What’s the problem that we’re solving when the government decided to come up with UHC Coordinating Council?

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: The problem we’re trying to solve is the fragmentation of the health system – we saw this during COVID. Because of the Local Government Code, local health systems were given to municipal mayors and governors. So, when the UHC Act was implemented, the aim was to integrate health systems. So, you’d come up with the provincial health board run by the governor and then it would consolidate all the health systems in the different mayors in his province – so, this is how the integration will happen. And what happens is there is going to be a special health fund which is actually emphasized in the law and that’s why we created the council to watch the spending of the money on the special health fund and the implementation would be standard for all different LGUs.

So, the president knows that there are diverse implementations that our LGUs, that our good implementers of healthcare systems locally and there are those that have don’t put emphasis there – so, they like to put a national standard and that’s where the council would be able to police or monitor how LGUs and local health systems will be spending funds or income from PhilHealth, income from the other local government units and how the health system can be improved because our health systems are diverse – some are very good, some are very weak so, depending on what their levels are – that’s how the spending will come.

The president also asked us to compute really how much it would cost to have equitable healthcare – so, that’s the other direction the council will be doing, will it be to compute base on the demographics of the country.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay, thank you. Eden Santos, Net 25.

EDEN SANTOS/NET 25: Secretary Herbosa, good morning po. Ito pong iki-create na Universal [Health Care] Coordinating Council, hindi po ba ito nangangahulugan ng another layer of red tape para doon sa ating Universal Healthcare Act?

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: While you can look at it that way, it’s red tape but to me I think it’s good governance because if you’re going to give money to local government to be used in health. Dati kasi iyong health – iyong money from PhilHealth, let’s say mayor ka, mayroon kang paanakan – the reimbursement of that goes to the mayor. Pero ngayon ipu-pool natin so, what happens is you pool the resources to that special health fund so that you can really allocate for things that are needed in the local health system. So, you also need to coordinate with the private sector, it can also receive funds – so mayroon nang mga provinces na nag-put up na ng bank account na made for that special health fund pero zero pa ang funds.

So, hopefully to be able to implement this there are many things we need to do eh – the other one is COA needs to change the way they audit the financing system because this is going to be different, it’s going to be put in the fund and then reimburse people or pay for salaries of doctors and nurses, additional doctors and nurses. So, iyon pa ang isang pag-uusapan and that’s where the national government as a council can provide good governance and transparency.

EDEN SANTOS/NET 25: Secretary, nationwide po ito ‘no? Ibig sabihin mas magiging malapit po sa mga mamamayan itong Universal Health Care hindi kailangang lumapit pa sa mga kongresista, sa mga senador para po makahingi ng health assistance?

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: Correct ‘no. So, the idea of the Universal Healthcare Act is really to strengthen our primary healthcare. So, ito iyong na-weaken when we did the Local Government Code because the local chief executives would change the officials of the local health center every time a new mayor is elected.

So with the integration, we are hoping to continue to build a stronger primary – iyong pinakamalapit na health center sa inyo – lagyan namin ng laboratory, x-ray, ultrasound, maybe even telemedicine with the help of DICT para they don’t clogged the hospitals. Kasi ngayon ang nangyayari, you visit the public hospitals siksikan talaga kasi bina-bypass nila iyon. Many of those going to the hospitals should be treated in a primary care facility – ito iyong tututukan sa Universal Health Care.

EDEN SANTOS/NET 25: Last question na lang po kaugnay lang noong malamig na panahon, Secretary, ano po iyong mga ini-expect nating mga kadalasang sakit na nararanasan kapag malamig ang panahon? Kasi bago po itong pagpasok ng amihan marami na iyong nagkasipon, nagkaubo, trangkaso na matindi po hindi kagaya noong mga nakaraang panahon na talagang mabilis lang mawala or gumaling?

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: That’s correct ‘no. Our epidemiology bureau has been monitoring the increase of influenza-like illness, iyong parang trangkaso at parang tumaas nga, there are some schools that converted to online blended learning because of the number of students [afflicted]. So, it’s really the time during the rainy season where respiratory illness increases kasi nga sarado ang bintana, we are in enclosed spaces and people can really get infected.

So, reminder to everyone, season pa rin – get the flu shot. We have flu shot at the Department of Health. So if you are high risks, especially elderly and senior citizens – magpa-flu shot kayo; and then, kung kayo ay may sakit, may respiratory illness – ubo, sipon, sore throat – it is better to stay at home than infect all other colleagues in the office or in the school; so, very important iyong self-protection. Things we learned during COVID i-practice lang natin – wear mask also, masking again if you have cough, colds or respiratory illness. Thank you.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: All right. We have Ivan Mayrina, GMA 7.

IVAN MAYRINA/GMA 7: Secretary Lotilla, sir. Gaano kakumplikadong proseso ang magpalit ng language sa 2024 GAA in terms of ito, iyong trigger period? I’m sure this is good news for the transport sector but how soon can they expect to benefit from it?

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: Well, since the Congress is right now considering the General Appropriations Act for 2024 doon na iyon isasalang iyong amendment from three to one month. Effective in 2024, as soon as Congress approves the GAA.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Tuesday Niu, DZBB.

TUESDAY NIY/DZBB: Hi, sirs. Secretary Herbosa, sir. Recently, sir, nabalitaan namin na nagkaroon ng malawakang revamp sa PhilHealth – pinalitan daw po iyong mga matataas na opisyal ng PhilHealth, ano po ang dahilan nito? Ito po ba ay may kinalaman doon sa recent incident ng hacking sa system o iyong hindi pa rin pagkakabayad noong mga utang sa mga private hospitals?

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: So, on October 7 the PhilHealth Board met and ako ang chair ‘no but a non-voting chair. So, it was the members of the board that voted against members of the executive council of executive committee of the PhilHealth – the executive vice president, the vice president for finance, they’re named actually and they were dismayed because of the recent medusa hack because I think part of the problem was the antivirus was not updated, plus they cited many other instances in the past – the delayed publication for the dialysis, et cetera.

So, it was a unanimous board decision but we have to hold it, I said “Wait a minute, it is election ban. You cannot move or transfer government officials like them.” So, we wrote Comelec chair and, I think, the news came out after the Comelec chair gave me the exemption just last week. Just last week the exemption was given but right now it’s not yet implemented because the president asked for more time because he had a question to the GCG regarding its implementation.

So as of now, it’s actually for implementation, it’s already exempted but we agreed, the board agreed to the request of the president and CEO to actually wait for the comment by the GCG – Governance Commission for GOCCs, iyon that’s right.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Alvin Baltazar, PBS.

ALVIN BALHTAZAR/PBS: Secretary Herbosa, good afternoon po. Kumusta po, Secretary, iyong PhilHealth system after the hacking, okay na po ba?

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: Okay, so the system I was told, the board was informed that the systems are up, not all our apps, but most are already up and available. Unfortunately, a last number of data subjects has been compromised – so, iyon iyong another bad part of this. So, many members, personal and private information are out there on the dark web. So, I think, PhilHealth also has to—ang order ng board sa PhilHealth management was to create a crisis committee to make sure they follow and inform all members whose data privacy has been breached, kasi iyon ang nasa Data Privacy Act. They have to inform all of them that your data has been breached and you change your password and everything. Be careful of phishing expeditions by hackers that can clean up your bank account because they know your birthday, your ID, etc.

The second one we asked them is a business continuity plan to make sure that all the billing, member’s dues and payments, premiums are still being accepted. So as of now, functional naman, iyon lang na-breach and ating personal and private information of members and employees – including employees. So, medyo marami iyon, and we are asking them to address that particular issue.

ALVIN BALTAZAR/RADYO PILIPINAS: Pero, Secretary, in terms of ibigay na tulong doon sa mga nangangailangan, hindi naman naapektuhan ‘no?

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: Ang alam ko hindi naman naapektuhan; that they should be paying their reimbursement to hospitals and members benefits.

ALVIN BALTAZAR/RADYO PILIPINAS: Secretary, doon lang sa UHC Act. Mangangailangan ba tayo ng additional doctors lalung-lalo na doon sa local level?

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: Yes, iyan ang isa sa mga—kaya nga isinama namin doon sa coordinating council ang TESDA at CHEd and DepEd because, I think, to really implement our Universal Health Care Act, we need to triple some of our rural health system. So, that means we need more doctors, we need more nurses, that’s also part of the strategy that the coordinating council should be looking at. How do we keep a steady supply of human resources for health that will fuel and run the Universal Health Care System?

ALVIN BALTAZAR/RADYO PILIPINAS: Initial number, Secretary?

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: Iba-iba, they are different depending on the doctors, but we have a lot of doctorless municipalities still, so we hope to solve that by other solutions. I don’t have the numbers for you right now but I can tell you that one of the solutions put forth is using telemedicine, which we also did during COVID-19. So, doctors in the specialty hospitals can provide consultation to people in rural primary care areas – so by providing good internet access.

JEAN MANGALUZ/INQ.NET: Question for Secretary Lotilla. You mentioned that economies are being prepared for the manufacture of electric cars, so we are partnering with the mining sector. Do you expect an increase in mining operations in the Philippines?

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: That would have to be addressed to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. But what—the general policy is that if we are engaging right now for example, producing our raw nickel ore, then we should graduate or elevate into processing so that we can get more value-add from the nickel mining.

EDEN SANTOS: Kay Sec. Lotilla lang po ulit. Sec, kanina sabi ninyo iyong requirements, ipa-simplify, papaikliin iyong three to one month. Kumusta naman po iyong listahan noong ating mga beneficiaries, kasi iyan po iyong kadalasan na nagiging problema, kung sinu-sino ba talaga at ilan ba talaga iyong mga dapat na mabigyan po ng fuel subsidy?

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: Iyong listahan ng Department of Transportation, medyo malinis iyan kasi franchises are being issued by the LTFRB. So, iyong sa local governments, iyon ang medyo mas matagal ang proseso, kasi i-verify pa ng local governments and DILG kung talagang ang listahan ay tama. At siguro ang experience natin nitong taon ay magiging magandang gabay na para sa next one. So, we just need to clean-up the list, but we don’t need to start from scratch.

EDEN SANTOS: So, ilan po talaga iyong sa DOTr, iyong sinasabi ninyong malinis na iyong listahan?

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: I don’t have the numbers, but we will find out from there.

KATRINA DOMINGO/ABS-CBN: Sir, for Secretary Lotilla. First, at the moment with the current rule of the three months for the barrel prices, how much po iyong sini-spend ng government in total for the fuel subsidy?

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: I don’t have the exact number as actually released by DBM. But last year or right now, for this year, Congress provided for a P3 billion fund. And I think that has been adequate, it’s really the speed with which we are able to implement that we are trying to address it.

KATRINA DOMINGO/ABS-CBN: Sir, just a clarification on the numbers. You earlier said that the proposal in the 2024 GAA is P2.5 billion, this year is P3 billion, so it’s shorter by P500 million.

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: That’s the case, but it can always of course, if the need is more than, it can always be augmented.

KATRINA DOMINGO/ABS-CBN: Sir, just to triple-check lang, sir. Meaning, smaller iyong budget for fuel subsidy next year despite the change na mas magiging shorter iyong span whenever the policy is triggered?

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: That’s right, but that’s based on the experience of the previous year or the present year and that is why DBM proposed a P2.5 billion. But of course, we don’t know what will be the final amount that will be approved by Congress.

KATRINA DOMINGO/ABS-CBN: For Secretary Herbosa. Sir, very quickly! Singapore, a few days ago confirmed that they are having resurgence of COVID cases. Are we seeing a similar pattern in the Philippines, considering that as you mentioned, influenza cases have been rising in the country?

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: Yeah, we don’t have an increase in COVID cases. Singapore reported another variety of Omicron, but it’s still mild and there are no deaths reported. So, we just have to watch out for it. We’ve consumed all our bivalent actually, the 390,000 that we have. We are just hoping that the fact that most Filipinos are completely vaccinated for COVID, symptoms will be mild and this new variety is also like upper respiratory mild infection. So, we will watch it.

KATRINA DOMINGO/ABS-CBN: Sir, what happens now to Filipinos who have yet to avail of the bivalent vaccine? Won’t they get a chance to get free shots from the government anymore considering that it’s gone?

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: It’s a little bit complex because now there is a new vaccine that’s out and it’s actually a monovalent XBB. That’s the one that was announced by Moderna in the US. Apparently, what was discovered was the bivalent isn’t as effective, because the bivalent also increases your antibodies to the original, not the later ones. So, parang 70% of the antibodies triggered or still the older ones. So, in that case, it doesn’t really protect you from the newer variant. So, they changed again their formula and created monovalent XBB. We will still think whether we will need that, depending on our increase in cases.

The people who will need now, because the symptoms of Omicron and XBB are mild, we think that the people who will need the vaccinations will be elderly and immunocompromised or with comorbidities. So we will have to study what the advice will be in terms of this and we are looking at what other countries are doing and what WHO will recommend. But still, general precautions for everyone. If cases will increase, we will inform you. The epidemiology bureau is monitoring our COVID cases.

DWIGHT DE LEON/RAPPLER: Follow-up lang po kay Secretary Herbosa. Kanina sinabi po ninyo, the reassignment of PhilHealth officials is not yet implemented because President Marcos has a question to the GCG.

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: Not President Marcos, it’s the president of PhilHealth, because he is the one who is supposed to implement it. So, the board, the PhilHealth Board is only strategic and policy making. So, the implementation of the transfer should be done by the president and CEO.

DWIGHT DE LEON/RAPPLER: What is the question, sir?

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: The question is that if it can be done legally, I think you can ask him because his question is something like, “who has governance, is it the board or the president or something like that, and where can it be transferred?”

DWIGHT DE LEON/RAPPLER: Follow-up lang po kay Secretary Lotilla, iyong [unclear], is that a request that was officially made by the executive branch to Congress?

DOE SEC. LOTILLA: We are formalizing that, but that is why the president gave guidance that it’s a go.

MISS DAHPNE OSEÑA-PAEZ: Thank you very much, health secretary and energy secretary. Thank you. Okay, may pahabol pa, last question from Chona Yu of Radyo Inquirer.

CHONA YU/RADYO INQUIRER: Secretary Herbosa, sir. Iyong 390,000 na bivalent na sabi ninyo kanina hindi pa naubos.

DOH SEC. HERBOSA: Ubos na.

CHONA YU/RADYO INQUIRER: Ubos na lahat, ah okay.

MISS DAHPNE OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay, that was a clarification. Okay, thank you very much. Thank you, Secretary Herbosa and Secretary Lotilla. Very good news from the health and energy sectors both, of course, addressing President Marcos’s objective to deliver government services to every Filipino.

So, this concludes our press briefing. Maraming salamat, Malacañang Press Corps. Magandang hapon.

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