Sen. Grace Poe. —Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau

MANILA, Philippines — The temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court against the transfer of idle and excess Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) funds to the national treasury made no mention of returning the money that had already been remitted, according to Sen. Grace Poe.

“[Finance Secretary Ralph Recto] has already said he would heed the ruling of the judiciary. The TRO was issued so the funds would no longer be used, to stop the remittance of money. But it did not mention that the fund needs to be returned to PhilHealth,” said Poe, the chair of the Senate finance committee.

The chamber kicked off its marathon plenary deliberations on the proposed P6.352-trillion General Appropriations Bill for 2025 on Wednesday, highlighting the general principles of the proposed expenditure program.

READ: SC issues TRO vs transfer of PhilHealth funds to National Treasury

Poe’s remarks were in response to Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros, who asked if the government would return the 2024 excess funds remitted by the state health insurer.

The Department of Finance (DOF) earlier issued Circular 003-2024, which ordered the transfer of PhilHealth’s unused subsidy totaling P89.9 billion to the Bureau of Treasury to finance other government expenditures.

However, the move prompted opposition lawmakers and civil society organizations to ask the high tribunal to stop the turnover, arguing that PhilHealth funds should be used only to benefit its members.

The high court recently issued a TRO preventing the transfer of P59.9 billion, of which P30 billion had already been remitted as of Oct. 16.

So far, PhilHealth has moved P60 billion to government coffers.

The Senate finance committee also recommended a cut of over P5.7 billion in the proposed P74.4 billion government subsidy for PhilHealth in the 2025 budget.

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