The Supreme Court has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the transfer of the P89.9 billion in “excess funds” from the PhilHealth to the Bureau of the Treasury.
“The Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to enjoin the further transfer of PhilHealth funds to the national treasury,” the Supreme Court Public Information Office said.
The 1SAMBAYAN Coalition, Seantor Aquilino Pimentel III, and Bayan Muna Chairman Neri Colmenares, et al. filed separate petitions against the return of excess reserve funds from government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) to the national treasury to fund unprogrammed appropriations.
The transfer goes against the 1987 Constitution, the petitioners said.
So far, PhilHealth has remitted to the Treasury the first tranche of P20 billion on May 10, another P10 billion on August 21, and P30 billion on October 16.
The final transfer of P29.9 billion is set to be transferred next month.
For his part, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said the Department of Finance would respect the Court’s TRO, but argued that its move to sweep the idle, unused, and excess funds of GOCCs is a mandate under Republic Act No. 11975 or the GAA 2024, which was approved by Congress.
“We reiterate that before proceeding with the utilization of GOCC idle funds, our agency exercised due diligence and consulted extensively with the government’s legal experts,” said Recto.
“These include the Governance Commission for GOCCs, the Government Corporate Counsel, and the Commission on Audit. These efforts were undertaken to ensure full compliance with our laws,” he also said.IMT
