Petitioners insist P89.9-B PhilHealth fund transfer to national treasury unconstitutional

Workers pait the walls of a hospital in in Quezon City on August 15, 2019. ABS-CBN News

Adrian Ayalin

ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- Petitioners insisted before the Supreme Court that it is unconstitutional to transfer P89.9 billion funds of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation or PhilHealth to the National Treasury.In August last year, the group of Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel filed a petition which challenged the constitutionality of the fund transfers, followed by similar petitions filed by Bayan Muna and 1Sambayan.Respondents to the petition are the House of Representatives, the Senate, PhilHealth, Department of Finance and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.The petitioners insisted that it was illegal to transfer the questioned funds based on the 2024 General Appropriations Act and the Department of Finance circular no. 003 2024.“Your honors, the enumeration under the constitution is exclusive, it does not authorize any government official to transfer appropriations, moreover, the authority to augment any item in the general appropriations must be given by law,” said Atty. Joseph Peter Calleja, counsel of the petitioners.In October last year, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order but at that time, P60 billion of the P89.9 billion was already released.Speaking for the government, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra asked during his opening statement to remove the name of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as one of the respondents citing presidential immunity.Guevarra maintained that there was nothing wrong with the PhilHealth fund transfers.&quot;I assure the honorable court and the people that contrary to what has been portrayed by some critics, there was no dark nor sinister plan behind the transfer of the 60 billion peso fund balance to the treasury,” said Guevarra.In an official statement, the DOF justified the prudent and moral decision to return supposed excess, idle and unused government subsidies totaling P89.9 billion.The DOJ also insisted that while PhilHealth has already returned P60 billion to the National Treasury, 78 percent were used for critical health projects.These include the public health emergency benefits and allowances for health care and non-healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic (P27.45 billion); the medical assistance to indigent and financially incapacitated patients (P10 billion); the procurement of various medical equipment for Department of Health (DOH) hospitals, local government units (LGU) Hospitals, and primary care facilities (P4.10 billion);  construction of three DOH health facilities (P3.37 billion); and the health facilities enhancement program (P1.69 billion).Included in the expenses was 27 billion pesos given to health care at non health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.During the question hour, the DOF pointed out that its revenues are higher than its expenditures and had an accumulated fund of P464 billion in 2024.Associate Justice Amy Lazaro Javier countered that based on Commission on Audit letters to PhilHealth, the agency was supposedly went bankrupt and from 2021 to 2023, its reserve funds were depleted compared to its actuarial estimates.Before the oral arguments, protesters aired their demands outside the Supreme Court,  assailing the state insurance corporation.“Maraming sa mga pera na nasa PhilHealth, ang nagbe-benefit ay yung mga opisyalis, napakalaki ng kanilang mga allowances at napakalaki ng mga pondong ginagastos nila para sa kanilang mga pangangailangan. Ang aming panawagan ay magbigay ng direct funding to the public health facilities such as the public health centers, the public hospitals,” said Dr. Edelina dela Paz, Health Alliance for Democracy Chairperson.“So all these things, hihingi namin sa Korte Suprema na sana mapagbigyan ang mamamayan na ang pondo diretso sa tao, huwag nang sumabit pa sa bulsa ng mga politiko,” said petitioner Atty. Neri Colmenares.

Petitioners insisted before the Supreme Court that it is unconstitutional to transfer P89.9 billion funds of PhilHealth to the National Treasury.

Petitioners insisted before the Supreme Court that it is unconstitutional to transfer P89.9 billion funds of PhilHealth to the National Treasury.

Petitioners insist P89.9-B PhilHealth fund transfer to national treasury unconstitutional | ABS-CBN

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Petitioners insist P89.9-B PhilHealth fund transfer to national treasury unconstitutional

Petitioners insist P89.9-B PhilHealth fund transfer to national treasury unconstitutional

Adrian Ayalin,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 04, 2025 09:07 PM PHT

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