President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the restoration of P60 billion that was siphoned from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), a move hailed by the Department of Finance (DoF) as a critical step in strengthening universal healthcare coverage for millions of Filipinos.

Marcos announced the return of the PhilHealth funds during his visit yesterday to the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Santa Cruz, Manila.

“No matter what explanation we give, no matter what we show to prove that the services covered by PhilHealth are increasing, people still worry that the services might be reduced. Actually, we are increasing them,” he said.

“That P60 billion will be returned to PhilHealth, not just to ease people’s worries, but because we will use it to expand PhilHealth’s services further,” Marcos added.

It was an ironic twist for the DoF, which was responsible for taking the amount from PhilHealth to cover the unprogrammed allocations (UA) in the 2024 national budget. A provision in the 2024 General Appropriations Act mandated the DoF to sweep “excess funds” from government-owned and controlled corporations.

Regular items in the budget, including flagship infrastructure, were bumped off to fund the UA and create the pork barrel for legislators.

In a quirk of fate, the PhilHealth funds came from the savings from the halted projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) likely involved in the flood control scandal.

The P60 billion was part of the larger P89.9 billion in unused PhilHealth subsidies from 2021 to 2023 that was transferred to the National Treasury under DoF Circular 003-2024 dated 24 April 2024.

The PhilHealth funds were transferred in three tranches throughout 2024, before legal challenges halted further remittances.

A fourth tranche of P29.9 billion was scheduled in November 2024 but was blocked by a Supreme Court temporary restraining order (TRO) issued on 29 October. The SC is continuing its review of the transfers.

The funds will now finance PhilHealth’s expanded benefits package and its Zero Balance Billing program.

The DoF said it had recommended the restoration after noting PhilHealth’s improved revenue performance and reforms in its benefit system.

“The expansion of services requires the infusion of funds, and we in the revenue sector will do our job so that such an important public service will be financed,” the DoF said.