A CATHOLIC cardinal has criticized the increase in funding of the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (Maifip), saying it is a “health pork barrel.” In a Facebook post released Sunday, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, the former Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president, said requiring political endorsement for aid undermines human dignity and weakens de­mocratic institutions. “When access to health care, education, or emergency assistance depends on a politician’s endorsement, a guarantee letter, or personal intervention, something deeply wrong has taken root — not only legally, but morally,” David said. The Maifip, a program of the Department of Health (DoH), aims to help finance the medical expenses of indigent patients through guarantee letters from politicians. David claims that the system allows politicians to choose who receives assistance, how much they can get, and when. “Health care is no longer delivered as a right flowing from need and citizenship but as a favor mediated by political power — a classic system of patronage that turns illness into ‘utang-na-loob,’” he said.