House lawmakers on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision declaring the P60 billion transfer of funds from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to the National Treasury in 2024 unconstitutional, calling for its immediate return to the state insurer.
In separate statements, Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima and Akbayan Rep. Perci Cendana said the SC ruling only underscored the need to protect funds intended for public health.
‘As the SC ordered the return of the P60 billion through the 2026 National Budget, PhilHealth should waste no time in using the amount to improve the health benefits for our countrymen,’ De Lima said. ‘We will keep an eye on this. Every cent of the health fund should be used for health services, not for imaginary infrastructure, not for anomalies, not for useless programs.’
Cendana also welcomed the decision, calling it ‘good news for our countrymen who lack access to adequate health services.’
He stressed that Congress must comply with the ruling and ensure the P60 billion is included in the 2026 General Appropriations Act.
‘The government should have never taken away funds meant for PhilHealth to pay for infrastructure and flood control projects,’ Cendaña said.
Currently, Congress has allocated P60 billion – sourced from cuts from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget – for the 2026 national budget representing the amount diverted away from the state insurer in 2024.
In total, Philhealth is set to receive P113 billion if the current version of the House and Senate budget bills pass as is.
It may be recalled that PhilHealth was ordered to return P89.9 billion excess funds to the national treasury through Special Provision 1(d), Chapter XLIII of the 2024 General Appropriations Act as well as Finance Circular No. 003-2024. Both were declared unconstitutional for grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.
Last year, it already remitted P60 billion before the SC issued a temporary restraining order to halt the transfer of the remaining P29.9 billion.
Despite the substantial amount Philhealth will get in the 2026 budget, former Budget Secretary Florencio ‘Butch’ Abad and Sofia Rodrigo of the Action for Economic Reforms (AER) told the Inquirer earlier this week that the P113 billion currently allocated for PhilHealth for 2026 was still far below this deficit even though multiple laws require funds to go to the state insurer.
Subsidize premiums
Currently, at least five laws – the sin tax reform act, universal health care act, tobacco excise tax law, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office law and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. law – mandate that a portion of their proceeds go to Philhealth’s National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) to help subsidize premiums for indirect members.
In reality, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has not actually allocated 100 percent of PhilHealth’s approved appropriations from 2023-2025 to be able to cover its yearly funding requirements to cover indigent premiums, leading to a total deficit of P356.6 billion in the past three years alone.
In 2023, for example, the DBM’s actual cash allocated (ACA) for PhilHealth was only P50.7 billion even though the required premium for indirect members by law was at P136.6 billion. In 2024, the DBM’s ACA dropped to P9.5 billion despite the requirement of P129 billion.
Abad noted that this deficit exacerbated the effects of last year’s zero government subsidy for the National Health Insurance Program, which affected indigent premiums and slated improvements to Philhealth’s case rates