By means of Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter
THE SUPREME COURT (SC) has ruled on Tuesdayday a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the further transfer of surplus resources from Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to the National Treasury.
“The TRO is effective immediately,” said SC spokesperson Camille Sue Mae L. Ting. “The TRO is actually intended to prevent the further transfer of more money from PhilHealth to the National Treasury.”
The SC consolidated the petitions filed by the 1SAMBAYAN Coalition, a group led by Senator Aquilino Martin “Koko” D. Pimentel III and another group led by Bayan Muna Chairman Neri J. Colmenares.
The three petitions were Fplans to halt the transfer of P89.9 billion in surplus funds from PhilHealth to the National Treasury.
“All three petitions challenge the return of excess reserve funds of government-owned and controlled companies to the National Treasury to finance unprogrammed appropriations,” the SC’s public information said.ffIce said in a statement.
The TRO was issued after P60 billion in PhilHealth funds had already been transferred to the Treasury in three tranches since May.
A fourth and final tranche worth P29.9 billion would be transferred to the Treasury in November.
Ms. Ting said it is still possible for the Supreme Court to hear the plea for a status quo ante order, which could allow for the return of the P60 billion to PhilHealth’s co-organization.Ffers.
Oral arguments scheduled for January 14, 2025 would go ahead, she added.
A copy of the TRO had yet to be released.
In a statement, Treasury Secretary Ralph G. Recto said the department “respects the Supreme Court’s intervention.”
“I recognize the right of every citizen to seek redress in court. Please be assured that the DoF (Ministry of Finance) will fully comply with the Supreme Court order,” he said.
“We extend our full cooperation to the Supreme Court as we look forward to the opportunity to shed light on the issues raised during the oral arguments.”
A provision included in the General Appropriations Act of 2024 allowed the DoF to issue Circular No. 003-2024, authorizing PhilHealth and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. were authorized toP89.9 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.
“We reiterate that before proceeding with the use of idle GOCC (publicly owned or controlled enterprise) funds, our agency conducted due diligence and extensively consulted with the government’s legal experts,” Mr. Recto said.
“These include the Governance Commission for GOCCs, the Government Corporate Counsel and the Commission on Audit. This eFForts were built to ensure that our laws were fully enforced,” he added.
In a statement, PhilHealth said it fully respects the ruling and will comply with it.
PhilHealth said it remains focused on its mission to provide healthcare to Filipinos through “better and responsive benefits.”Fit offers packages and availability policies that guarantee better access to healthcare services.”
Advocate General Menardo I. Guevarra, whose offIce represents government agencies in lawsuits and said they would “respect the TRO,” noting that it is “limited to PhilHealth funds only.”
One of the petitioners, former SC Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio, said the TRO “rescues the poorest of the poor of Filipinos… whose only source of life-saving medicine is PhilHealth.”
“We hope that the executive branch will refund all transferred funds back to PhilHealth pending the final decision of the Supreme Court,” he said in a Viber group chat message with reporters.
Mr. Carpio, along with 1SAMBAYAN, said in their petition that since PhilHealth funds are “special funds,” they cannot be transferred unless their purpose is declared or achieved.
They added that the cash transfers violated Article VI, Section 25 (5) of the Constitution. According to the Charter, “no law shall be passed authorizing any transfer of appropriations.”
Former Treasury Undersecretary Cielo D. Magno, who filed the application FIn the first petition in which Mr. Pimentel questioned the transfer, they said they hoped the Supreme Court would declare the transfer of the money unconstitutional.
“This measure will temporarily put an end to the Ffinancial hemorrhage of PhilHealth,” she shared Business world in a Viber message.