MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to halt the transfer of approximately P89.9 billion in excess funds from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to the national treasury, as announced by the Supreme Court Public Information Office on Twitter on October 29.

The consolidated petitions from Bayan Muna, 1Sambayan, and the group of Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III requested the issuance of the TRO, which the court granted. These petitions questioned the return of excess reserve funds from government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) to the national treasury.

Additional petitions challenging the constitutionality of the fund transfer were filed by groups and individuals, including the UP Law Class of 1975, Seniors for Seniors Association, Inc., the Kidney Foundation of the Philippines, and other private individuals.

Named respondents in these petitions include Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph G. Recto, Speaker of the House of Representatives Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, and PhilHealth President Emmanuel Ledesma Jr.

Bayan Muna emphasized the urgency of the TRO, arguing that the fund transfer could jeopardize PhilHealth beneficiaries’ benefits. 

Meanwhile, Pimentel’s group stated, “The pilfering of the reserve funds is a grave disservice to the Filipino people who depend on PhilHealth for financial risk protection from illness and who are still heavily burdened by out-of-pocket health expenditure.”

The petitioners demonstrated the urgency of the TRO to the Supreme Court, citing reports that Finance Secretary Recto had already ordered a partial transfer of the funds, with P30 billion slated for turnover to the national treasury on October 16.

“With consistently rising inflation and worsening social conditions, it is imperative that these funds be used exclusively for the implementation of the Universal Health Care Act, the expansion of benefit packages, and the reduction of premium contributions,” the petitioners argued. They also asserted that the allocation of unprogrammed appropriations exceeds the legislature’s authority to appropriate funds.

The petitioners maintained that “PhilHealth funds are considered as special funds because they are collected for a specific purpose and the unused or idle thereof cannot be classified as government savings.”

Recent jurisprudence supports that “The revenue collected for a special purpose shall be treated as a special fund to be used exclusively for the stated purpose. This serves as a deterrent for abuse in the disposition of special funds.”

In its initial comment, the Office of the Solicitor General opposed the consolidated petitions, asserting that the transfer of PhilHealth’s unutilized funds “when viewed from a broader perspective, will not necessarily hamper, much less disable, the implementation of PhilHealth’s mandate.”

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