THE Supreme Court has unanimously ordered the return of the P60 billion that the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) had earlier remitted to the National Treasury.
The amount forms part of the state insurer’s unused P89.9-billion fund balance.
In a press briefing, SC spokesperson Camille Ting said the Court, through a decision penned by Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, struck down as void Special Provision 1(d), Chapter XLIII of the 2024 General Appropriations Act along with Department of Finance Circular 003-2024.
The special provision authorized the government to sweep excess reserve funds of government-owned and -controlled corporations to finance unprogrammed appropriations under the 2024 budget.
Following the GAA provision and the DOF directive, PhilHealth had already remitted P60 billion in three tranches.
The remaining P20 billion, however, was retained by the agency under the Supreme Court’s earlier restraining order.
