PDIC perversion continues

How did the proponents of the maneuver to tap Unprogrammed Appropriations (UA) to revive the pork barrel manage to raise funds for these standby items, despite the Supreme Court ruling that barred the reallocation of the P60 billion Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) reserve funds?

One largely overlooked maneuver in the UA racket was the tapping of the funds of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC), from which P107 billion in “excess” funds were transferred to the Bureau of the Treasury to trigger the release of contingent items.

Notably, the Supreme Court decision did not specifically address or order any action regarding the PDIC’s P107.23 billion remittance, which was completed in January 2025 under the 2024 General Appropriations Act.

Nosy Tarsee has been told that PDIC was not the issue because its excess-fund transfer was not specifically raised, litigated, or factually developed as an issue in the proceedings.

Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda, in a concurring opinion on the PhilHealth verdict, said the ruling should not automatically extend to PDIC, as its constitutionality involves distinct facts, statutory provisions, and arguments not before the Court in that case.

Unlike PhilHealth’s exclusive funds use under the Universal Healthcare Act, PDIC’s charter (Republic Act 3591) lacks an explicit prohibition on transferring excess funds or income from its Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) to the National Treasury. 

The DIF is dedicated to deposit insurance and financial assistance for banks, with reserves maintained for capital adequacy, but PDIC is not barred from undertaking government remittances if authorized by law, such as the General Appropriations Act.

Excess assessments and earnings are added to the DIF after expenses, but the charter allows for periodic studies on fund adjustments and assessment rates, with recommendations to Congress, implying flexibility absent the rigid earmarks imposed on PhilHealth.

Department of Finance (DoF) Circular 003-2024, which provided for the sweeping of government-owned or -controlled corporations, applied specifically to PhilHealth’s P89.9 billion.

PDIC’s remittance, while enabled by the same GAA Special Provision 1(d) for funding the UA, appears to have proceeded directly under congressional mandate without a dedicated DoF circular like PhilHealth’s, Nosy Tarsee was told.

Lawmakers, former officials, and influential groups such as the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines have called for applying the Supreme Court precedent to PDIC, arguing similar unconstitutionality, but no separate Supreme Court decision has been issued.

PDIC insiders said the raid on the DIF continues, with about P20 billion diverted to the Treasury until recently, using the DoF circular that the Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional.