A former Health secretary on Wednesday 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.

“As a former Head of the Health Department, I am deeply concerned about the state of public health in our country, but I am also hopeful following the Supreme Court's restraining order against the transfer of unused funds from PhilHealth to unprogrammed projects,” Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, Former Department of Health head and current Board Member of HealthJustice Philippines, said.

“We commend this intervention, as the 89.9 billion pesos in unused PhilHealth funds should be directed toward alleviating the financial burdens faced by millions of Filipinos, particularly those struggling with noncommunicable diseases,” Tan added.

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

“The transfer of these funds is not justifiable given the pressing issues surrounding noncommunicable diseases, which require urgent attention and resources,” Tan underscored.

Tan stressed that the state insurer should implement comprehensive reforms to enhance benefit standards, manage member contributions effectively, and ensure timely spending on benefit packages.

“Additionally, we need responsive actuarial estimates, focus on primary health care, and interoperability to our digital health information systems,” he said.

These systemic failures, he furthered, “jeopardize the integrity of PhilHealth and its mission to serve the public effectively.

Tan served as the Healh chief from January to June 1995.

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.