By means of Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Reporter
THE PHILIPPINE HEALTH INSURANCE CORP. (PhilHealth) will proceed with the planned transfer of the remaining P29.9 billion in surplus funds to the Treasury in November despite questions over its constitutionality, Finance Secsaid Ralph G. Recto.
“Yes, [the third tranche of] surplus funds were transferred to the Treasury yesterday (16 October). There is a planned transfer in November,” Mr Recto said Business world in a Viber message.
He was referring to the P30 billion that PhilHealth transferred to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) on Wednesday.
The final tranche, amounting to P29.9 billion, will be transferred to the BTR in November. PhilHealth previously transferred P20 billion on May 10 and P10 billion on August 21.
This despite a petition FFiled Wednesday by the 1SAMBAYAN Coalition and other groups seeking to halt the transfer of PhilHealth’s surplus funds to the Department of Finance.
Petitioners argue that the cash transfers violate Article VI, Section 25 (5) of the Constitution. According to the Charter, “no law shall be passed authorizing any transfer of appropriations.”
“However, the President, the Speaker of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the heads of constitutional committees may be authorized by law to supplement any item in the general appropriations bill. for their respective offices from savings on other items of their respective appropriations.”
Separate petitions questioning the cash transfers were filed by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Martin D. Pimentel III and former Treasury Undersecretary Ma. Cielo D. Magno on August 2 and Bayan Muna on September 6.
The Supreme Court (SC) en banc will hold oral arguments on the cash transfers in January next year.
Asked for comment, Mr. Recto said: “We are only following the instructions of Congress in the budget. We will respect the decision of the Supreme Court.”
A provision in the General Appropriations Act of 2024 allowed the Department of Finance to issue Circular No. 003-2024, in which PhilHealth and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. were authorized to transfer P89.9 billion and P110 billion, respectively.
These would help finance unprogrammed credits worth 203.1 billion euros, which would support government programs in health, infrastructure and social services.
“Releasing these excess fund balances makes more sense FThis is a better option than borrowing more or imposing taxes,” the Department of Finance (DoF) said in July.
Mr Recto said earlier that projects financed with non-programmed credits would boost real gross domestic product growth by 0.7%. It would also generate up to €24.4 billion in additional revenues and create more jobs.
The treasury chief also noted that the cash transfers would not hinder the delivery of healthcare services, adding that PhilHealth would still have about P550 billion after the excess funds were transferred.
Meanwhile, medical groups are stepping up efforts to stop PhilHealth’s cash transfers, said Anthony C. Leachon, former president of the Philippine College of Physicians.
“We will intensify our efforts to rally more supporters to stop the act of terror Ffinal transfer of P29.9 billion in November and hopefully influence the SC to expedite the issuance of TRO (temporary restraining order) or influence the decision in favor of the petitioners in January,” he said in a Viber message.
“The executive branch should consider stopping the transfer as this unprecedented misappropriation of public funds has legal implications,” he added.
In August, healthcare industry representatives wrote a letter to the DoF stating that PhilHealth’s surplus resources should be used to improve healthcare delivery.