Malacañang on Friday said it respects the Supreme Court’s (SC) order to restore the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) PHP60-billion idle funds that were transferred to the national treasury in 2024.
In a statement, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said the Executive branch would abide by the SC’s directive and ensure that the fund return is carried out in accordance with existing laws and budgetary procedures.
“Tulad ng lagi naming sinasabi bago pa man ang desisyon, susunod po ang Ehekutibo sa kautusan ng Korte Suprema, gaya rin ng pagsunod at pagtalima namin sa direktiba ng Kongreso noon na gamitin ang natutulog na pondo ng mga GOCCs (government-owned or -controlled corporations) para sa kapakanan ng taumbayan (As we have always said even before the decision, the Executive will follow the order of the Supreme Court, just as we complied with the directive of Congress before to use the idle funds of the GOCCs for the benefit of the people),” Recto said.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. took proactive steps as early as Sept. 20 to restore PhilHealth funds, in recognition of the agency’s stronger performance, increased absorptive capacity, and expanded benefits, Recto noted.
Recto reaffirmed the Marcos administration’s commitment to maximizing government resources to ensure that “no Filipino is ever denied healthcare.”
“Our goal remains the same: to make every hard-earned peso of the Filipino taxpayer count—for our people, for their families, and for their health,” he said.
“We also stress that PhilHealth’s ability to deliver services was never impaired by the fund transfer, and no member contributions were taken. In fact, the correction led to the agency’s largest expansion of benefit packages in Universal Health Care history, alongside the rollout of Zero Balance Billing to protect Filipino families from rising medical costs,” Recto added.
Recto said the Executive merely complied with the congressional mandate under the 2024 General Appropriations Act, adding that the Department of Finance’s (DOF) role is “solely in revenue generation and debt and deficit management.”
“We believed then, and still believe, that the directive was a common-sense approach to optimize government coffers without resorting to additional borrowing or new taxes,” Recto, the country’s former Finance chief, said.
“Before any remittance occurred, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, the Governance Commission for GOCCs, and the Commission on Audit gave DOF the green light to do so. The PhilHealth board also approved the transfer.”
In a separate statement, Presidential Communications Office Acting Secretary Dave Gomez said the Office of the Solicitor General would review the ruling and take the appropriate action, which may include filing a motion for reconsideration.
Gomez said the House of Representatives incorporated the restoration in the General Appropriations Bill, and the Senate would uphold the directive in its committee report. (PNA)
