Former Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares is calling for a permanent ban on budget provisions that allow the transfer of PhilHealth’s excess funds to other government programs.
This follows the return of ₱60 billion to the state insurer after the Supreme Court declared the 2024 transfer to the national treasury unconstitutional.
While Colmenares welcomed the reversal, he stressed that simply returning the money is a temporary fix if the underlying budget mechanisms remain unchanged.
“The return of the ₱60 billion to PhilHealth is the correct move. These are contributions meant for health services, not a standby pool to plug budget holes elsewhere,” Colmenares said.
He specifically targeted the “unprogrammed funds” provisions, which he believes act as a backdoor for the government to raid health care coffers.
“We should remove unprogrammed funds provisions that allow a repeat of this diversion. If we are serious about protecting PhilHealth members, there must be no more backdoor authority to pull PhilHealth money away from health care,” he said.
The former lawmaker also demanded full transparency regarding the ₱89.9 billion in reported unused PhilHealth funds. He urged the agency to convert the returned billions into tangible improvements, such as faster claims and higher benefit packages.
“Dapat wala nang unprogrammed funds para hindi na maulit ang nangyari. Dapat maglabas ng kumpletong accounting sa lahat ng ni-release na UA noong 2024 at 2025—kanino napunta, magkano, at saan ginastos,” he added.
Beyond the health sector, Colmenares is seeking the return of ₱110 billion taken from the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC), arguing that those funds are insurance for depositors and should not be used for unrelated state spending.
“Dapat ibalik ang ₱110 bilyon na kinuha sa PDIC. Premiums ito ng mga depositor bilang insurance sa panahon ng bank runs at liquidity problems. Hindi ito pondo ng gobyerno na puwedeng galawin para takpan ang kakulangan sa badyet,” he pointed out.