Yet another open target

Aside from the so-called excess fund of P90 billion of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and the P110 billion of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp., government sources said a sizeable pot is being unearthed in the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp., another repository of funds, of a relatively modest P321.7 million.

The government is doing a sweep of so-called excess funds in government-owned and -controlled corporations following a circular from the Department of Finance (DoF) based on a provision in the 2024 national budget.

A 2012 joint circular implementing a 2005 executive order is being cited for the reversion of the unutilized balance of the Special Revolving Trust Fund (SRTF) to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) totaling P321.676 million.

The practice of sweeping dormant accounts started with DoF-DBM-CoA Permanent Committee Joint Circular 4-2012 dated 11 September 2012, to wit: Rules and Regulations Implementing Executive Order 431 dated 30 May 2005 directing the Reversion of All Dormant Accounts, Unnecessary Special and Trust Funds to the General Fund and for Other Purposes.

The transfer of the SRTF to the National Treasury would augment depleting funds of the national government, and facilitate the implementation of its programs and projects.

Letter of Instruction (LoI) 1242 Providing A Measure to Facilitate Guarantee Payments Under the Masagana 99 Program, dated 21 May 1982, mandated the appropriation and allotment of the SRTF in the amount of P450 million over three years and constituted into a special revolving trust fund to be administered by the PCIC for payment of claims of the Philippine National Bank and the rural banks which participated in the Masagana 99 Program, to the extent of 85 percent of the past due Masagana 99 loans.

Under Section 7 of LoI No. 1242 and Section 7(b) of DoF-DBM-CoA Permanent Committee JC 4-2012, the PCIC is required to render annual reports on the status of the SRTF to be submitted to the President, copies to be furnished the then Central Bank, now Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Ministry of Agriculture, now Department of Agriculture, the Department of Budget and Management, and other agencies concerned.

Section 29(3) Article VI of the 1987 Philippine Constitution states that all monies collected for any tax levied for a special purpose shall be treated as a special fund and paid out for such purpose only.

If the purpose for which a special fund was created has been fulfilled or abandoned, the balance, if any, shall be transferred to the general fund of the government.