SC orders return of P60-B excess funds back to PhilHealth

The Supreme Court has ordered the government to return the P60 billion excess funds transferred to the national treasury back to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) through the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

In a 136-page decision, the SC En Banc declared void the Special Provision 1(d), Chapter XLIII of the 2024 GAA, Finance Circular No. 003-2024, and the transfer of the P60 billion for having been issued with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.

The Special Provision 1(d) authorized the return of the excess funds of government-owned or controlled corporations to the national treasury while the Department of Finance (DOF) circular directed the transfer of P89.9 billion from PhilHealth to the national treasury.

Due to this, the High Court ordered Congress, the Department of Finance, and the Executive Secretary to include the P60 billion as a specific item in the 2026 GAA to be returned to PhilHealth.

Meanwhile, the SC also permanently prohibited the respondents from implementing the transfer of PhilHealth’s P29.9 billion to the treasury.

“Filipinos deserve better. We deserve to dream, not of the day when we and our families can finally walk into the hospital without fearing financial ruin, but of the beautiful life that can still be led after healing,” it said.

“The Court will not sit idly by, not when the people look and cry to us for help, not when the Constitution charges us to be the singular indomitable bastion of our people’s rights. This Court will not be deaf to the pleas of our people. We will not be blind to their plight. And we certainly will not be callous to their agony,” it later added.

In a press conference, SC spokesperson Atty. Camille Ting said the decision is immediately executory.

Meanwhile, Ting said that the SC ruled that Marcos did not commit grave abuse of discretion when he certified the 2024 GAA as urgent.

It also denied the request to determine the liability of the Finance secretary for technical malversation and/ or plunder, ruling that such matters are improper for the resolution of the case.

This is over the petitions filed by Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III,  the Philippine Medical Association, the 1SAMBAYAN Coalition, and Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares and others.

The petitioners asked the SC to block the transfer of PhilHealth's excess funds amounting to P89.9 billion back to the national treasury.

To remind, PhilHealth was ordered to return P89.9 billion excess funds to the national treasury.

Last year, it already remitted P60 billion before the SC issued a temporary restraining order to halt the transfer of the remaining P29.9 billion.

In a statement on Friday, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Teodoro Herbosa thanked the high court for tackling the “questions raised about health financing,” adding they will wait for further advice from the Solicitor General on the next steps to take.

“The Department of Health and its attached agencies, including the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), are committed to implementing the Universal Health Care Act through sound and sustainable health financing. We await the advice of the Solicitor General on subsequent actions to take,” he said.

Palace respects SC decision

In a statement, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto, who was the Finance secretary when the excess PhilHealth funds were ordered to be transferred back to the Treasury, said the Palace respects the Supreme Court’s decision.

“We reiterate that the Executive simply complied with the congressional mandate under the 2024 GAA, and that the Department of Finance’s (DOF) role is solely in revenue generation and debt and deficit management. We believed then, and still believe, that the directive was a common-sense approach to optimize government coffers without resorting to additional borrowing or new taxes,” Recto said.

“Before any remittance occurred, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG), and the Commission on Audit (COA) gave DOF the green light to do so. The PhilHealth board also approved the transfer,” the executive secretary said.

Recto added 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,” the Palace official said.

Recto, cited Marcos’ “proactive step” on September 20, 2025, to restore PhilHealth's P60-billion remittance.

Likewise, Presidential Communications Secretary Dave Gomez said, “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.

The PCO official reiterated that the “Executive simply complied with the congressional mandate under the said law.”

In relation to Marcos’ order to restore PhilHealth’s P60-billion remittance to the Treasury, Gomez said, “The House of Representatives incorporated the restoration in the general appropriations bill and the Senate likewise upheld the directive in its committee report.” — AOL/RSJ, GMA Integrated News