THE Department of Finance (DOF) stated it was merely complying with Congress’s directive concerning the issue of transferring nearly P90-B in unused funds from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to the National Treasury.
Finance Secretary Ralph Recto made these remarks during the Post-SONA discussions of the Food Security and Economic Development cluster in Pasay City on Tuesday, July 23.
Recto explained that it is stipulated in the 2024 budget, mandated by Congress, that the DOF should issue a circular for the utilization of these funds, which have been dormant and unused by other government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).
The secretary disclosed that an investigation revealed approximately P200-B lying dormant in two government corporations: the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) and PhilHealth, with the latter holding around P89.9-B.
“We examined whether this could be used for the prioritized unprogrammed fund, could it help the economy of our country? Can it create more jobs? We saw in our examination at DOF that this will help the economy grow more or less 0.8%.” said Sec. Ralph Recto, DOF.
The finance chief further shared that consultations were conducted to confirm the legality of the action.
The DOF consulted with the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG), the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), and the Commission on Audit (COA). He asserted that all three government agencies confirmed the legality of the said move.
Moreover, Recto emphasized that this step will not increase the country’s deficit.
“It will not add to the debt of the Philippines. That’s why the circular was issued and passed by the board of directors, for example, of PhilHealth and PDIC,” added Recto.
Recto also assured that the health programs of PhilHealth will not be adversely affected.
Recalling earlier statements, the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAPI) expressed a preference for PhilHealth to settle its outstanding debts to private hospitals, totaling around P4-B, rather than returning the unused P90-B subsidy fund to the National Treasury.
“All the costs of medicines, supplies, even the salaries of health workers have increased. Those things affect the hospitals especially the private hospitals because we don’t have any subsidy from the government. That’s why the hospitalization costs in private hospitals are also rising,” said Dr. Jose Rene de Grano, President, PHAPI.
“If they just pay their debt to us, that’s P90 billion, instead of returning it to the treasury, they should just pay their debt first,” he added.
Dr. Tony Leachon, an Independent Health Reform advocate, initially declared the nearly P90-B transfer of excess PhilHealth funds to the national treasury as unconstitutional.
He argued that these excess funds should not be diverted to unprogrammed appropriations since PhilHealth has yet to fulfill the mandate of Universal Health Care.
“The excess money they distributed? How come? The budget for healthcare is already insufficient. That is unconstitutional, that is illegal, that is immoral in the first place. You cannot give away that money because it’s the people’s money for health, particularly PhilHealth,” said Dr. Tony Leachon, Independent Health Reform Advocate.
Senator Bong Go, Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, also expressed dismay over unused funds that could have been used to aid every Filipino PhilHealth member.
However, now that the funds have been returned to the national treasury, Go stressed that it should not be wasted and must still benefit the public, especially the poor and the sick.
Former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque also commented on the issue.
“I don’t believe that the P90-B won’t have any use for the national coffers. First of all, that’s against the law. What’s so hard to understand is that all PhilHealth funds are allocated for the benefit of the members or perhaps to lower the premiums,” added Atty. Harry Roque, Former Presidential Spokesperson.
