Just

The Supreme Court's unanimous decision on the hijacking of PhilHealth funds was most just.

- ALEX MAGNO

The Court ruled that the insertion of a provision in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) that enabled national government to commandeer "excess funds" was unconstitutional. That inserted provision nullified all other laws that protected government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) from such hijacking.

Our legislators need to be taken to task for passing such a brazenly unconstitutional piece of legislation. The President should be taken to task for signing this into law. The respective boards of the affected GOCCS -the PhilHealth and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) - should be taken to task for not resisting the commandeering of their funds by defining them as "excess."

The ruling on the P60 billion in excess funds taken from PhilHealth should also apply to the even larger amount taken from the PDIC. The latest report indicate that the national government is rushing a provision in the proposed 2026 budget to comply with the Supreme Court ruling. Additional funds should also be allocated to refund the PDIC. Our most influential business organizations have decried the hijacking of PDIC funds because this weakens the ability of our banking system to protect all depositors.

Refunding both PhilHealth and the PDIC will punch a large hole in next year's national budget. Cardinal Ambo David denounced the fact that taxpayers will still shoulder the costs of refunding the two agencies. There is some suspicion that the diverted "excess" funds were used to fund corrupted infrastructure projects.