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Jean Mangaluz - Philstar.com
December 5, 2025 | 4:04pm
A man tries to access the login page of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation in Manila on Oct. 9, 2023.
AFP / Jam Sta Rosa
MANILA, Philippines — The executive branch will comply with the Supreme Court’s (SC) order to return P60 billion of PhilHealth’s unused funds, according to Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Dave Gomez on Friday, December 5.
The SC had ruled that realigning PhilHealth’s idle funds into the national treasury was unconstitutional, ordering the return of the P60 billion and barring future transfers.
“We respect the decision of the Supreme Court. The Office of the Solicitor General will review the ruling and decide on the appropriate course of action to take, including the filing of a motion for reconsideration,” Gomez said in a statement to reporters.
“We note that the majority of the members of the high tribunal declared as unconstitutional a provision of the General Appropriations Act 2024 passed by Congress. We note that the executive simply complied with the congressional mandate under the said law,” he added.
The Palace recalled that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had already tried to “restore” the P60 billion by realigning the budget from the besieged Department of Public Works and Highways.
Likewise, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto, who was the finance secretary at the time of the controversial PhilHealth transfer, maintained that the executive was merely acting in accordance with the law passed by Congress.
“We also stress that PhilHealth’s ability to deliver services was never impaired by the fund transfer and no member contributions were taken. In fact, the correction led to the agency’s largest expansion of benefit packages in Universal Health Care history, alongside the rollout of Zero Balance Billing to protect Filipino families from rising medical costs,” Recto said.
The controversial PhilHealth transfer was indeed embedded into the 2024 General Appropriations Act. There was a provision that allowed the Department of Finance to realign the idle funds of government agencies.
The provision raised questions about budget transparency—with many lawmakers surprised that such an amendment would even exist in the General Appropriations Act.
