Petitioners in a landmark Supreme Court (SC) case on Wednesday urged Congress and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to fully comply with a ruling ordering the return of P60 billion to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. in the 2026 national budget.
The group behind GR No. 274778 said the ruling directs Congress to insert a distinct line item in the General Appropriations Act restoring the funds to PhilHealth, separate from its regular allocation.
They said the funds were taken from PhilHealth’s reserve fund and must be returned in full, independent of any new budgetary allocations.
The petitioners warned that provisions in the House-approved budget and Senate committee report limiting or predefining the use of the P60 billion undermine the Supreme Court ruling.
They argued that attaching conditions to the funds violates the Universal Health Care Act, which already governs the use of PhilHealth reserves.
Under the law, reserve funds may only be used for benefit expansion or premium reduction once they exceed the actuarially determined ceiling.
The group maintained that the funds can only be considered fully restored if the budget explicitly orders their return to the reserve fund and preserves PhilHealth’s autonomy.
They also disputed claims that the proposed P113 billion PhilHealth budget represents the largest single-year investment for the poor, saying it remains insufficient to fully subsidize premiums for all indirect contributors.
The statement was issued by former Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, Cielo Magno, Dante Gatmaytan, Ibarra Gutierrez, Junice Melgar, Minguita Padilla, and various labor and medical groups.
