The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) throws its support behind the petition filed by retired Supreme Court (SC) Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and other petitioners asking the SC to rule that the transfer of P89.9-billion in Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) funds to the Bureau of the Treasury is unconstitutional.

Despite widespread protests against the move, the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, through Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, went ahead in transferring PhilHealth funds to the Bureau of Treasury. Recto and the Marcos government refuse to listen to the legitimate opposition of workers and other sectors of society.

The Supreme Court should issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on the transfer because, as former Justice Carpio said, illegally disbursed funds should be returned, but the amount in question is a staggering P89.9 billion.

The transfer of funds is wrong on so many levels. First, the 1987 Constitution clearly prohibits the creation of laws that allow the transfer of appropriations, as it upholds the supremacy of the General Appropriations Act for this purpose.

Second, the 1987 Constitution allows the president, not the Finance Secretary, “to augment any item in the general appropriations law for their respective offices from savings in other items of their respective appropriations.”

Third, and in relation to the second, the PhilHealth funds in question cannot be classified as savings, as so many Filipinos still need PhilHealth’s support. PhilHealth funds were raised for a particular purpose and cannot be rechannelled away from that purpose.

Fourth, Finance Secretary Recto and the Marcos government are transferring PhilHealth funds to unprogrammed funds, the audit rules for which are more lax compared to regular funds. By transferring PhilHealth funds to the Bureau of Treasury this way, workers’ funds are being made vulnerable to misuse and even corruption.

PhilHealth was created supposedly to serve Filipino workers. Its funds come from the contributions of Filipino workers. So many Filipino workers still need PhilHealth’s assistance, and earnings from the PhilHealth fund’s investments should still go to Filipino workers, not to the government’s other projects.

Studies show that almost half of Filipinos who have been hospitalized paid for their hospitalization using money from their pockets. Many reports and research show that the health system in the country remains underfunded, and the government should raise health workers’ salaries and build more hospitals.###