House welcomes SC ruling on P60B PhilHealth refund

Members of the House of Representatives have welcomed the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling ordering the national government to return the P60 billion it had taken from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), declaring the move unconstitutional.

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Reps. Robert Nazal and Zia Alonto Adiong lauded the high tribunal’s decision, though Adiong clarified that Congress had already complied with it as early as the budget deliberations, when President Marcos ordered the refund to the state health insurer.

“The House has already complied, following the President's order, and regardless of the result of cases pending before the High Court,” said Adiong, chairperson of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms.

The administration lawmaker noted that even before the SC ruling, the House had carried out the “only legal and constitutional remedy” by restoring the contested amount in the proposed 2026 national budget.