Palace points to 2024 GAA following SC order on PhilHealth funds; SolGen to review

Palace officials on Friday stressed that the executive branch only followed the provisions of the 2024 General Appropriations Act when it decided to transfer P60 billion in excess funds of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) back to the national treasury.

Executive Secretary Ralph Recto and Presidential Communications Office Secretary Dave Gomez made the remarks after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the petitioners and ordered the return of the P60 billion to PhilHealth for the benefit of its members.

Gomez said the Office of the Solicitor General would review the decision.

“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 executive simply complied with the congressional mandate under the said law," he added.

'Restoration in the GAB'

Regarding President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.’s 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.”

Recto, who was the Secretary of Finance, when the excess PhilHealth funds were ordered transferred back to the treasury, said that the Palace respected the Supreme Court ruling.

“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," Recto said.

'Common sense approach'

"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,” he added.

“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.

Restore P60 billion in 2026 budget

In a 136-page decision, the Supreme Court en banc ordered the government to return the P60 billion excess funds transferred to the national treasury back to the PhilHealth through the 2026 GAA.

The High Tribunal 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 a 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. –NB, GMA Integrated News