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Monday, February 17, 2025

SolGen: Nothing illegal in PhilHealth fund transfer

The Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday dismissed allegations of wrongdoing in the transfer of P16 billion in PhilHealth funds to the national treasury .

“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 P16 billion peso fund balance from PhilHealth to the treasury,” Guevarra said during oral arguments on the consolidated petitions asking the HIgh Tribunal to declare the transfer unconstitutional.

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The Department of Finance (DOF) also defended the decision, saying it was a “prudent and moral” step to return only excess, idle, and unused government subsidies from 2021 to 2023, which amounted to P89.9 billion.

“The DOF exercised a prudent and moral decision to limit the return to the excess, idle and unused government subsidies from 2021 to 2023, thus arriving at P89.9 billion,” DOF said in a statement.

Guevarra also asked SC to remove President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr as one of the respondents, citing his presidential immunity.

The petitioners asked the Supreme Court to specifically declare Special Provision No. 1 (d) of the UA as unconstitutional as it amends or repeals the Universal Healthcare Act and Sin Tax Laws.

Two cases were filed separately by Senator Aquilino Pimentel III and 1Sambayan Coalition against the House of Representatives while activist Neri Colmenares and his co-petitioners lodged their complaint against President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.

President Ferdinand Marcos swearing in Dr. Edwin Mercado as the new Philhealth president.

The petitioners argued that the UA is already part of the national expenditure program (NEP) under the proposed new appropriations and also in the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (BESF) under total new appropriations.

They said it is part of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) which was subject to the President’s veto message for conditional implementation.

They noted that UA increased the total new appropriations from P4.3-trillion to P4.75 trillion citing the bicameral committee report for the 2024 GAA.

The petitioners also said that the same provision as well as the Department of Finance (DOF) Circular 003-2024 violates the constitutional right to health.

On Oct. 29, 2024, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order blocking the transfer of the remaining P29.9 billion unused funds of Philhealth to state coffers.

The first tranche of unused funds, amounting to P20 billion, was transferred on May 10, followed by the second tranche of P10 billion on August 21.

The third tranche, totaling P30 billion, was transferred on October 16.

In a statement, the Department of Finance said the 2024 GAA specifically mandated the DOF to issue guidelines to implement the sweep of the excess and idle funds of government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) to finance the imposed appropriations in excess of what the executive branch had originally proposed. This includes critical health, social, and infrastructure projects.

The DOF also said it consulted the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) and sought the legal opinions of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) and the Commission on Audit (COA) to ensure full compliance.

It likewise reviewed and studied the provision to determine its merit, assessing if it will help in growing the economy.

An extensive review of the financial statements of all GOCCs was conducted and revealed that PhilHealth had accumulated a substantial sum of excess, unused, and idle funds over the past few years, amounting to PHP 183.1 billion.

However, the DOF exercised a prudent and moral decision to limit the return to the excess, idle, and unused government subsidies from 2021 to 2023, thus arriving at PHP 89.9 billion.

As of December 19, 2024, PhilHealth has remitted PHP 60 billion in excess funds, about 78% of which were used to finance critical health projects.

These include the Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care and Non-Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 pandemic (PHP 27.45 billion); the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (PHP 10 billion); the Procurement of various medical equipment for Department of Health (DOH) hospitals, local government units (LGU) hospitals, and Primary Care Facilities (PHP 4.10 billion);  construction of three DOH
health facilities (PHP 3.37 billion); and the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (PHP 1.69 billion).

The rest of the excess funds also financed government counterpart financing for foreign-assisted infrastructure and social development projects that will accelerate the delivery of healthcare services to remote areas and enhance the health and well-being of Filipinos by ensuring food security.

Photos from Pot Chavez and PCO

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