FOLLOWING former President Rodrigo Duterte’s questioning of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) transfer of billions in unused funds to the national treasury, the Davao region state-owned health insurance clarified that the transfer of the funds was to support and finance priority government projects across the country.
PhilHealth-Davao Regional Vice President, lawyer Harvey Carcedo told Davao reporters at the sidelines of the 2024 PhiHealth Year-End Media Forum on Wednesday, November 27, that the Department of Finance (DOF) directed the transfer of nearly P90 billion under the Republic Act (RA) 11975 or known as the General Appropriations Act (GAA), permitting unprogrammed funds from Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) to be reallocated for priority government projects.
“On the part of PhilHealth, since there was a directive coming from the Secretary of Finance, it is our duty, once we find a legal basis for the transfer of funds, which was guaranteed by the Secretary of Finance. We gather information from the DCG regarding the validity of funds, and after confirming their validity, that's the time we transfer the funds by order of the Secretary of Finance,” Carcedo said.
Meanwhile, the official also noted that contrary to the speculations circulating, they assured PhilHealth members that the unutilized funds did not come from their premiums.
“We assured the public that the fund that was being transferred is not coming from the premiums being paid by the members. Rest assured that benefits would continue,” he said, adding that the transfer was “constitutional” and “legal”.
During a press conference in Davao City on November 25, 2024, Duterte specifically called out the government's handling of funds from PhilHealth.
“Ang tingin ko na mas mabigat ng problema na dapat malaman ng Pilipino is nag hemorrhage ang country. Pati nga yung PhilHealth na hindi dapat sa gobyerno, contribution natin yan... That is the most dangerous, at dapat — P***ng i***g estafa 'yan (I believe the bigger problem that Filipinos should know is that the country is hemorrhaging. Even PhilHealth, which shouldn't be with the government, is our contribution. That is the most dangerous, and it should be — that's estafa)," Duterte said.
Duterte added that PhilHealth is not meant for the government, as it is a contribution from every employee who worked hard to earn those benefits.
"Government malversed the money of the people. Ginamit niyo 'yung pera ng (You used the people's money). Even Congress cannot do that. Trust fund 'yun...," Duterte said, He also expressed concerns that the funds could have been used for critical health needs like cancer treatment.
In October, the Supreme Court (SC) issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the transfer of remaining “excess” funds amounting to P29.9 billion, representing the fourth and final tranche of the PhilHealth funds to be returned to the national treasury.
The state-owned health insurance had already transferred P20 billion in May, P10 billion in August and P30 billion in the same month.
“Over the past few months, there were already transfers of funds from PhilHealth to the national treasury to unprogrammed appropriations. The TRO is just really to prevent the further transfer of more funds from PhilHealth to the national treasury,” SC spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting said.
However, several petitioners issued the call following the SC's preliminary session on the petitions contesting the financial transfer's constitutionality. The SC has set the oral arguments on the petitions on January 14, 2025.
Petitioners including Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, Former Bayan Muna party-list representative Neri Colmenares, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, and other lawmakers argued that the transfer was unconstitutional and threatens the implementation of the Universal Health Care Act and other health care initiatives.
According to Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, the DOF will respect the SC decision, stating, “As a public servant myself, I recognize the right of every citizen to seek redress from the courts. The DOF will fully comply with the order of the SC. We give our full cooperation to the SC as we look forward to the opportunity to shed light on the issues presented during the oral arguments. With this honorable platform, we trust that all issues will be addressed once and for all.”
Recto clarified that prior to using the funds, the DOF conducted due diligence and conferred with the government's legal experts.
He further added that the transferred resources were used to fund health workers’ unpaid allowances during the pandemic and the Salary Standardization VI for government employees released this year.
The funds were utilized for the Philippine Multisectoral Nutrition project, the Philippine Rural Development Project, the Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project, the newly revised Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program, and other big-ticket infrastructure projects under the Build Better More program of the current administration. DEF
