Nearly 5 million Filipino families belonging to the poorest 25% of the population can look forward to adequate social protection in case of medical emergencies as the Arroyo administration has allotted P3.5 billion this year for a program that provides free health insurance services for the poor, the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) announced recently.

NAPC Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban said the national government and its local government partners plan to subsidize health insurance premiums worth P1,200 each for a targeted 4.8 million poor families under the Sponsored Program of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

"The beneficiaries of the PhilHealth Sponsored Program will enjoy the same benefits enjoyed by all regular PhilHealth members," Panganiban said.

Panganiban's announcement comes on the heels of President Arroyo's instructions for the cabinet groups of NAPC and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to discuss ways to help the poor cope with record-high fuel prices.

"The President is determined to ensure better social protection services for the poor, which is why the government is aggressively pushing for the maintenance and expansion of this program," Panganiban said.

The NAPC Secretary said the national government expects local government units to disburse an additional P2.13 billion for the PhilHealth Sponsored Program this year alone.

A report forwarded by PhilHealth to NAPC says that some 2.7 million poor families have already been enrolled under PhilHealth's Sponsored Program as of December last year.

Ms. Gilda Salvacion Diaz of the PhilHealth Corporate Planning Department meanwhile said that local executives will be responsible for identifying the program's beneficiary families.

"Local Social Welfare Development Offices (SWDOs) are expected to conduct a means test among poor communities using the Family Data Survey Form (FDSF) of the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS)," Diaz said.