Vice President Sara Duterte said she welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court ordering the return of the P60-billion Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) excess funds that were transferred to the national treasury.

“The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of legal cases in our country. And if they say that it is unconstitutional, then it is. And then it should be returned,” Duterte said in an ambush interview in The Hague, Netherlands on Friday, 5 December.

“Rightly so, because dapat ang pera ng PhilHealth ay binabalik or nire-reinvest balik sa health programs ng ating bansa,” the Vice President added.

The unconstitutionality of the transfer of the PhilHealth funds, according to Duterte, was among the topics she discussed during her visit to her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, at the International Criminal Court detention center.

“We talked about the unconstitutionality of the transfer of the PhilHealth funds, P60 billion of it. And it was decided that it should be returned to PhilHealth,” she said.

On Friday, 5 December, the Supreme Court ordered the government to return the P60 billion excess funds transferred to the national treasury back to PhilHealth through the 2026 General Appropriations Act.

The court’s ruling also barred Congress and the executive department from implementing the transfer of the remaining P29.9 billion of the P89.9 billion fund balance of PhilHealth.