PhilHealth transfer ‘utterly illegal’
THE PHILIPPINE Health Insurance Corp.’s (PhilHealth) transfer of P89.9 billion of its unutilized funds to the National Government’s coffers is illegal, a congressman said on Wednesday, citing a Supreme Court ruling that said funding clauses in laws cannot be amended by other measures.
A provision within the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA) allowing PhilHealth to remit the money back is outright invalid as there are already “substantive laws” outlawing it, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez said during a congressional budget briefing.
He alleged that PhilHealth’s transfer violated the Universal Health Care Act, the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, and measures placing excise taxes on liquor and tobacco products.
“The transfer of the Secretary of Finance, with the approval of the [Department of Health] Board, is utterly illegal,” he said.
“When they signed the provision of the GAA which allowed the Secretary [of Health] to transmit… the Supreme Court already ruled you cannot do that if there’s substantive law,” he added. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio