Public good still prevails

In a unanimous decision promulgated on December 3, the Supreme Court declared void the transfer of the P60 billion fund balance of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to the National Treasury.

- MARY ANN LL. REYES

It also permanently prohibited the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Department of Finance and the Office of the Executive Secretary from implementing the transfer of the remaining P29.9 billion in the PhilHealth fund balance.The decision stemmed from three consolidated petitions challenging as unconstitutional a provision in the 2024 GAA and DOF Circular 003-2024, which mandated the transfer of P89.9 billion from the PhilHealth fund balance to the National Treasury.

The 2024 GAA, contained in Republic Act 11975, authorized the return of the fund balance or excess reserve funds of government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) to the treasury to fund unprogrammed appropriations under the GAA. It directed the DOF to issue guidelines for implementing this provision.

By virtue of this, the DOF issued Circular 003-2024 requiring GOCCs such as PhilHealth to remit their fund balance to the National Treasury. The PhilHealth board then approved the transfer of the subject funds and remitted a total of P60 billion, which came from government subsidy contributions or premiums for indigents or indirect contributors, which it received in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

On Sept.20, 2025, however, the President announced that the P60 billion fund balance of PhilHealth remitted to the National Treasury would be returned to PhilHealth. And that is even before the High Tribunal released its ruling.

The DOF has been at the center of public debate on the issue, but the facts remain unchanged: the DOF acted squarely within the law. The 2024 GAA expressly authorized the temporary use of idle funds to shore up the country’s fiscal position during a period marked by extraordinary resource strain. And because of this provision, the government was finally able to settle long-overdue health emergency allowance arrears for both health and non-health care workers.