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Philstar.com
February 16, 2025 | 12:07pm
Individuals continue to avail services as face-to-face operations and transactions continue at the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) in Quezon City on September 26, 2023.
STAR / Michael Varcas
MANILA, Philippines — The transfer of idle funds from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) allows the government to finance critical programs without compromising the state insurer’s ability to provide services.
Former Finance Secretary Margarito Teves made the statement as an amicus curiae before the Supreme Court (SC) during the recent oral arguments on the transfer of PhilHealth's P89.9 billion "excess funds" to the national treasury.
He stressed that even with the fund transfer, the state insurer “remains in a strong financial position”.
“Returning the P89.9 billion idle funds of PhilHealth will not hamper its ability to provide services to all its members, including indigents and senior citizens,” Teves said.
“It has sufficient resources not only to continue covering the benefits of all its members, including indigent population, but also introduce better packages,” he added.
Teves’ statement comes amid strong opposition to the fund transfer, with personalities in the health sector claiming the move is unjustified.
As of the third quarter of 2024, PhilHealth reportedly had P682.2 billion in total assets, with P510 billion classified as liquid. Supporters of the fund transfer argue that this amount is more than enough to cover the state insurer's existing and future obligations.
Teves said that reallocating idle public funds is a "sound fiscal strategy", noting that past administrations have taken similar measures.
He recalled that during the Ramos administration, all government offices and agencies were required to transfer funds deposited with banks to the BTr. The Arroyo administration reviewed the cash balances of agencies and their need to maintain trust and special funds, while the Duterte administration reallocated idle resources to fund the COVID-19 emergency response through the Bayanihan 1 and 2 laws.
The former finance chief added that the current administration, still managing the fiscal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, has had to make prudent financial decisions to maximize resources and manage the country’s growing debt.
“The national government, at this stage, Your Honors, is in a better position to spend the P89.9 billion productively for government projects and programs. For example, this can be used to build more health facilities, such as barangay health stations and hospitals, as well as purchase medical equipment such as X-rays and CT scan machines. The P89.9 billion can also be used to fund education, nutrition, and growth-enhancing infrastructure programs and projects,” he argued.
He further assured the SC that the government has the flexibility to restore or even increase PhilHealth subsidies in the future.
“National government agencies operate with the understanding that they have to use their budget. Consistent with that understanding, the national government can restore or even increase subsidies for PhilHealth, provided it demonstrates improved capacity to implement more generous benefit packages for its members,” he added.
Teves joins other former finance secretaries in supporting the fund transfer, including Cesar Virata, Roberto De Ocampo, Jose Pardo, Alberto Romulo, Jose Isidro Camacho and Cesar Purisima.
Oral arguments on the issue will resume at the SC on February 25.
