Marcos: P60-B excess funds back with PhilHealth due to DPWH savings

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Saturday announced that the P60-billion in excess funds of the Philippines Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), which were taken back to the national treasury, will be returned to the state health insurer due to savings mostly from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Marcos made the announcement during his visit to Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

"So I'm happy to be able to announce, dahil sa ating mga ginagawa, siguro alam naman ninyong lahat 'yung mga savings natin na bago na galing sa iba't ibang departamento—, but mainly from Department of Public Works and Highways—, 'yung P60 billion na 'yan ibabalik na natin sa PhilHealth," the President said.

(So I'm happy to be able to announce that because of our efforts, our savings from different departments, mostly from the DPWH, we will return the P60 billion to the PhilHealth.)

"'Yung P60 billion na ginamit natin sa iba't ibang proyekto, dahil nagka-savings tayo, maidadala na natin ulit sa PhilHealth," he said.

(Because we had savings, the P60 billion which had been used for different government projects can now be reallocated to PhilHealth.)

Last year, the Department of Finance (DOF) ordered the transfer of PhilHealth's excess funds amounting to P89.9 billion to the Treasury, which were government subsidies that remained unused and not from member contributions. 

Of this amount, P60 billion has already been transferred to state coffers with only P29.9 billion remaining with PhilHealth before the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order on the fund transfer in relation to the petition filed by Senator Koko Pimentel and the Philippine Medical Association, among others.

Last April, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto told the Supreme Court that the P60 billion was redirected to the following: 

• P27.45 billion to pay the allowances of COVID-19 frontliners
• P10 billion to the Social Programs for Health to provide medical assistance to poor Filipinos 
• P3.37 billion for the establishment of three DOH facilities
• P4.1 billion to strengthen existing DOH facilities
• P1.6 billion to the Health Facilities Enhancement Program
• P13.00 billion to fund the government counterpart financing for foreign-assisted infrastructure and social determinants for health projects

After a review amid allegations of corruption regarding flood control projects, the DPWH resubmitted a leaner 2026 proposed budget of P625 billion—removing some P255 billion from the original cost of over P881 billion.

The President ordered the DPWH and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to conduct a thorough review of the former's budget, as his administration presses forward with its investigation into the flood control controversy.

Last Monday, Marcos reported a "menu" of sectors which the 2026 budget originally earmarked for flood control can be reallocated. These sectors are: education, agriculture, health, housing, infrastructure and information and communication technology (ICT), labor, social, and energy.

He reiterated that there would be no budget for flood control projects for fiscal year 2026. — VDV, GMA Integrated News