The government will not contest the Supreme Court ruling directing the return of ₱60 billion to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Executive Secretary Ralph Recto confirmed.
In a televised interview, Recto said the decision on whether to seek reconsideration lies with Solicitor General Darlene Marie Berberabe, noting, “I leave that to the Office of the Solicitor General. She is the lawyer for the government. I am not a lawyer. So I leave that to her.”
He stressed, however, that Malacañang will not appeal the specific portion of the ruling involving the ₱60 billion, citing the clear benefit to public healthcare.
“For sure, we will not file a motion for reconsideration with regard to the ₱60 billion (ordered returned by the SC). Because it is to our interest to give that ₱60 billion to PhilHealth, because we know that PhilHealth now can spend that money better with the zero balance billing,” he said.
Recto clarified that the funds originally remitted to the National Treasury were unused government subsidies from previous years, not taken from PhilHealth’s reserve funds.
“We did not take any money from the reserved funds of PhilHealth… What we took was the excess fund subsidy of the national government that was not spent by PhilHealth,” he explained.
He added that the amount may be seamlessly reintegrated into the 2026 national budget since the funds came from taxpayers, not member contributions.
“It came from taxpayers to begin with… so it will be incorporated in the 2026 budget,” he said.