A health reform advocate on Tuesday hailed the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court (SC) against the transfer of the remaining unused funds of the state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to the national treasury.

In a statement, Dr. Tony Leachon lauded the High Court for issuing the TRO on the transfer of PhilHealth’s P89.9 billion excess funds to the national treasury.

The SC issued the TRO on Tuesday, 29 October, after three of the four scheduled fund transfers have been made.

Out of the P89.9 billion ordered by the Department of Finance to be returned by the PhilHealth, P60 billion had been returned: P20 billion on 10 May, P10 billion 21 August, and P30 billion on 16 October.

The last tranche—worth P29.9 billion—was slated to be transferred in November.

Leachon said the TRO “preserves the current situation, preventing any further transfers.”

However, he noted, to fully restore the integrity of PhilHealth’s financial resources, a status quo ante order should also be issued.

“This would ensure that the funds previously transferred to the national treasury are returned to PhilHealth, where they rightfully belong,” Leachon explained.

“As we await further legal remedies, the next steps would be to secure this status quo order, allowing these vital funds to be used for the healthcare needs of Filipinos as intended under the Universal Health Care Law,” he added.

Leachon furthered that the development “signals a strong movement toward accountability and genuine change in how public resources are managed.”

The SC acted on three separate petitions that has now been consolidated—those were filed by the groups of 1SAMBAYAN Coalition, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, and Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares.

The petitions were sparked by the Department of Finance order for PhilHealth to remit its excess funds to the National Treasury in April.