PhilHealth fund transfer does not violate any law, Constitution —Guevarra

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra declared before the Supreme Court (SC) that the transfer of some of the P89.9 billion excess funds of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to the national treasury does not violate the Constitution.

During Tuesday’s oral arguments, Guevarra cited Special Provision No. 1(d) in the General Appropriations Act of 2024 and the DOF’s Circular No. 003-2024, which allow the return of the excess or idle funds of government-owned and controlled corporations to the Treasury to fund unprogrammed appropriations.

He said these were the government’s “common-sense approach” to “temporarily eke out the cash needed for the National Government’s numerous priority programs.”

“It was the executive and legislative departments’ way of creating and implementing a fiscal policy to boost economic growth without bloating the government’s indebtedness or burdening the people with new tax measures,” Guevarra said. 

“It is a common-sense approach that does not violate any law, much less the Constitution, in any way,” he added.

Guevarra, representing the respondent government officials in the petitions against the transfer, said the Philippine government would not be acting with common sense if it shelved needed projects due to lack of budget when there is an abundance in another.

He said the P89.9 billion was an accumulation of three years of government subsidies which remain unexpended or unutilized as of the end of 2023.

“Using the petitioners’ own words, there can be no greater act of ‘negative social justice’ and ‘disservice to Filipinos’ if that were to be the case,” Guevarra said.

Last year, PhilHealth remitted P60 billion to the National Treasury while the SC issued a temporary restraining order halting the transfer of the remaining P29.9 billion.

The first petition against the transfer was filed in August by Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III and the Philippine Medical Association, among others.

This was followed by other petitions of the 1SAMBAYAN Coalition, headed by retired SC Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, and Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares and other members on October 16.—LDF, GMA Integrated News