Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said the transfer of nearly P90 billion in unused subsidies from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) back to the national treasury is legal and in line with Congress's mandate under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2024.
DOF Secretary Recto defends transfer of nearly P90-B in unused PhilHealth funds | ANC
During a public inquiry by the Senate Health and Demographics Committee, Recto said there are other ways to finance non-programmed allocations than new taxes and debt, as determined by Congress.
“It could be that the pamamagitante is a natutulog at the hindi nagagamit after deploying GOCCs for binabayaran pa naning interest. It could be that the GAA has gotten a sine wave in 2024,” Recto explained.
He also assured that the Department of Finance (DOF) consulted legal experts and received positive advice before wiping out the PHP89.9 billion in unused government subsidies from PhilHealth. These subsidies are not part of the reserve funds and the income limited by the Universal Health Care Act to be used by the national government as a general fund has also not been used by the Department of Finance.
