President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should fire Finance Secretary Ralph Recto to stop him from complicating his life and hindering the accomplishment of major tasks and the fulfillment of his promises to the Filipino people. How can you move when your finance secretary is in a quagmire of trouble with the law, now before the Justices of the Supreme Court with their superior minds?

There is no contest. Recto’s academic background is inadequate. The Department of Budget and Management Secretary is not a certified public accountant. Mr. Recto has been grossly erroneous in his public pronouncements involving state funding and policies.

Recto last 2 April said that if the Supreme Court comes out with a ruling ordering the return of the funds, the DoF will include the P60 billion in the National Expenditure Program for 2026.

That statement is reprehensible. It drew a lot of reactions, one of which was: “Why should stolen money be paid out of the next national budget?”

Among retired state auditors, the withdrawal by DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman from the national treasury of the transferred PhilHealth funds on the basis of a mere Department of Finance circular without the approval of the President is as bad as stealing money from the poor and the sick

The allocation by Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman of P20 billion of the PhilHealth funds, on orders of Mr. Recto, to finance the recently released health allowance for health workers is a malversation of public funds.

Mr. Recto defended the transfer of PhilHealth’s nearly P90 billion in excess funds to the national treasury, asserting that the money was not from member contributions but rather from the national government’s subsidy to PhilHealth.

The national government subsidy represents member contributions paid for by the government for all Filipinos aged 21 years and over who have no capacity to pay the premiums, in accordance with the Universal Health Care Act and the Constitution.

On 29 October 2024, the Supreme Court issued a restraining order against the transfer of the funds. However, of the P89.9 billion in excess funds, P60 billion had already been transferred to the national treasury by that time.

During the oral arguments on the petition questioning the legality of the PhilHealth fund transfer to the national treasury, Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier asked the now iconic question: “Where is the money?:

On Wednesday, 2 April, Secretary Recto addressed the Honorable Supreme Court of the Philippines to answer the question.

“Your honors, the P60 billion that was returned didn’t vanish — it paid frontline workers, built hospitals, and gave the poor access to medicines. Every centavo remitted was converted to service, that is fiscal justice,” Recto said, adding that the move was “not only legal, but also economically sound and a moral duty.”

Almost 78 percent of the remitted funds was used for health-related projects of the government: P27.45 billion for the public health emergency benefits and allowances of health and non-healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic; P10 billion for medical assistance to indigent and financially incapacitated patients; P4.10 billion for the procurement of medical equipment; P3.37 billion for the construction of three DoH health facilities; and P1.69 billion for other health facilities.

“We cannot in good conscience allow funds to languish in bank accounts as our nation’s needs multiply daily,” Recto said.

The petitioners, however, insisted the fund transfer violated the Constitution.

Email: artbesana@gmail.com.