DepEd budget cut, PhilHealth zero subsidy did not originate from House

The purported irregularities in the corruption-tainted 2025 budget, notably the nearly P12-billion budget cut in the Department of Education (DepEd) and the zero subsidies for the state insurer PhilHealth, shouldn’t be blamed on the House of Representatives, as it “miraculously” maneuvered outside the chamber’s domain.

Speaking to the reporters on Tuesday, Deputy Speaker Rolando Puno asserted that the budget realignments flagged in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) did not originate from the House, arguing that the chamber kept it both intact in the House-approved budget bill when it transmitted it to the Senate for deliberations. 

Under the House version, the subsidies for PhilHealth remained at P74.43 billion, while the budget allotted to the DepEd was also retained in line with the original proposal under the National Expenditure Program. 

However, Puno claimed that they noticed changes in the figures when the Senate returned the measure to the House, including the jacking up of the Department of Public Works and Highways’ budget.

“In the GAA, the PhilHealth trust fund was scrapped, the DepEd budget was cut, [while] the DPWH budget increased,” said Puno, who was not a member of the previous Congress, but claimed that he strictly followed the budget developments. “We want to know […] who benefited from this? Is it true what Senator Sotto said that it all went to the Senate leadership? We also want to know because the House is the one being blamed here.”

Puno made the remark in response to Senator Ping Lacson’s queries to the House and the Senate about why they allow the scrapping of P74 billion in PhilHealth subsidies in this year’s budget, despite knowing fully well that it would go against the Sin Tax Law and Universal Health Care Act.

The senator, who has established a reputation for relentlessly exposing corruption and anomalies within the government, argued that the realignment of the subsidies under the 2025 GAA effectively amended the said laws, violating the principle that a “general law cannot amend a special law.“

The Sin Tax Law mandates that 80 percent of half of the total collection from tobacco and sugar-sweetened beverages shall be allocated to PhilHealth.

Initially, PhilHealth was supposed to receive a government subsidy of P74.43 billion, but the Senate slashed it to just P68.719 billion. 

The subsidy reportedly includes over P50 billion for premiums for the unemployed and P20 billion for additional benefits.

Senate President Chiz Escudero and then-senator Grace Poe, who chaired the Senate Finance Committee that oversaw the budget, said the budget cut was attributed to PhilHealth’s alleged longstanding history of slow budget utilization and failure to expand health coverage despite having massive excess funds. 

Due to the alleged anomalies linked to the 2025 budget, Puno-led National Unity Party—the second dominant bloc in the House, next to Lakas-CMD, headed by Speaker Martin Romualdez—reached a consensus to withhold deliberations for the 2026 budget “until all the mysteries and miracles in the 2025 budget have been clarified.”

“As for me, I'm convinced that [the House] did nothing to the changes. I’m 100 percent sure that the issues our President is complaining about with the budget, none of that came from the House,” he averted. “I don’t understand why they keep pointing fingers at the House, especially at the Speaker."

This year’s budget was widely criticized for allegedly featuring padded unprogrammed and discretionary funds, questionable realignments, and illegal “budget insertions.” The bicameral conference committee, composed of selected members of the House and the Senate, has been on the receiving end of these accusations. 

The constitutionality of the 2025 GAA is currently being petitioned before the Supreme Court by Davao Rep. Isidro Ungab, who exposed the so-called blank items with longtime ally, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

President Marcos Jr. had already issued a stern warning to members of Congress that he would return the 2026 GAB should it contain line items that are not fully aligned with the administration’s proposed budget, regardless of whether it results in a reenacted budget.

The 2025 GAA, originally set at P6.352 trillion, was trimmed down to P6.326 trillion after Marcos vetoed P194 billion worth of line items deemed inconsistent with his administration's priority programs, P16.7 billion of which was for the flood control projects, now at the center of intense scrutiny for allegations of massive corruption.