Vice President Sara Duterte acknowledged the Supreme Court’s order for the government to restore the ₱60 billion “excess” fund of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) transferred to the national treasury in 2024.
“The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of legal cases in our country. And if they say that it is unconstitutional, then it is, then it should be returned,” Duterte said in an ambush interview in The Hague, Netherlands, December 5.
She added that PhilHealth’s fund should be reinvested in health programs.
“Rightly so, because dapat ang pera ng PhilHealth ay binabalik or nire-reinvest balik sa health programs ng ating bansa,” she said.
The SC ruling also barred Congress and the executive department from transferring the remaining ₱29.9 billion of PhilHealth’s ₱89.9 billion fund balance.
In September, President Bongbong Marcos announced that the ₱60 billion would be returned to PhilHealth using savings from other agencies, mainly the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).