Former House Appropriations Chair Isidro Ungab has raised concerns over the handling of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation funds, calling recent fund transfers “legally and ethically questionable.”

In an interview with DZRH, Ungab said the release of PhilHealth funds for 2024 was allegedly being used to trigger the release of unprogrammed funds for 2025.

“Gagamitin nila yun pang-trigger ng release ng unprogrammed funds sa 2024,” he said.

(“They will use that to trigger the release of unprogrammed funds for 2024.”)

He said declaring funds unconstitutional is typically done only when there is an actual excess of government resources.

According to Ungab, a bicameral committee allowed funds to be moved from government operations into a general pool, effectively treating the PhilHealth trust fund as available for other uses.

Ungab also questioned the plan to pay the alleged P60 billion from pooled funds, describing it as “like stealing money and then asking for it back.”

He added that it is important to trace the funds. “Itrace talaga kung saan pumunta yung UCA… para ma-check kung saan pumunta yung funds which were declared illegally,” he said.

(“It really needs to be traced where the UCA went… to check where the funds declared illegal went.”)

The issue stems from 2024, when PhilHealth’s excess reserves were transferred to the National Treasury under the General Appropriations Act and Department of Finance Circular 003-2024.

Several petitions were later filed with the Supreme Court, arguing that the transfer violated the Universal Health Care Act, which requires PhilHealth funds to be used solely for health insurance.

The Supreme Court subsequently declared the transfer a “grave abuse of discretion” and ordered the return of the P60 billion that had been diverted.