Transfer of PhilHealth reserve funds draws flak
SEN. JV Ejercito has expressed concern over the transfer of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) reserve funds to unprogrammed national government reserves.
«As the author and sponsor of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law, I am concerned about the transfer and utilization of the reserve funds from PhilHealth to the unprogrammed fund of the national government,» Ejercito said in a statement.
«While we understand the need for funds for government programs, we believe that the fulfillment of the goals and objectives of the UHC Law should be accorded priority,» he added.
The Department of Finance (DoF) on Monday raised the need to tap unused government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC) funds for public programs, saying it is a more viable fiscal option than borrowing or imposing new taxes.
The DoF said using idle GOCC funds for projects in health, social services and infrastructure would not affect the viability of participating corporations or impair the delivery of their services.
The DoF said unused subsidies of PhilHealth were not part of its reserve funds.
«Tapping GOCC surplus for urgent public programs is similar, but on a far more smaller scale, to what the government did with Bayanihan when it called up the cash hoard of GOCCs in the fight against Covid,» the DoF said.
Advertisement«It is also worthy to note that remittances to fund urgent national projects do not come from their member contributions but from a fraction of billions in unutilized national government subsidies,» it added.
The Nagkaisa Labor Coalition (Nagkaisa), the largest labor coalition in the country, has denounced the diversion of the P89 billion PhilHealth surplus funds to unprogrammed national government reserves, calling it a violation of Republic Act 11223, or the UHC Law.
«Instead of diverting P89 billion PhilHealth funds to the national treasury, we are urging compliance with Section 11 (Program Reserve Funds) of Republic Act No. 11223 (An Act Instituting Universal Health Care for All Filipinos),» it said in a statement.
The constitutionality of Congress increasing the unprogrammed appropriations higher than what was proposed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the
