Naglabas ng temporary restraining order (TRO) ang Supreme Court (SC) en banc nitong Martes para pigilin ang paglilipat ng P89.9-bilyon na sobrang pondo ng Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) patungo sa National Treasury. Ang pasya ng SC, iginagalang ni Finance Secretary Ralph Recto.

Ayon sa PhilHealth, P60 bilyon na umano ang nailipat nila sa national treasury at P29.9 bilyon na lang ang natitira sa ahensiya.

“The Supreme Court issued a TRO to enjoin the further transfer of PhilHealth funds to the national treasury,” sinabi ni Atty. Camille Ting, tagapagsalita ng SC sa press conference.

Effective immediately ang bisa ng TRO.

Ayon kay Ting, hindi na kasama sa TRO ang pondo ng PhilHealth na nailipat na sa national treasury.

Sinabi naman ni PhilHealth President Emmanuel Ledesma Jr., na susundin nila ang desisyon ng SC.

“We remain focused on our mission to provide all Filipinos with adequate financial protection against health risks through better and responsive benefit packages and availment policies that ensure greater access to healthcare services whenever and wherever they need them most,” saad nito sa pahayag.

Sa hiwalay na pahayag, sinabi rin ni Finance Secretary Ralph Recto na iginagalang ng Department of Finance ang pasya ng SC.

“We give our full cooperation to the SC as we look forward to the opportunity to shed light on the issues presented during the oral arguments. With this honorable platform, we trust that all issues will be addressed once and for all,” ayon sa kalihim.

Sa kabila nito, iginiit ni Recto na naaayon sa Republic Act 11975 o GAA 2024, ang naturang paglilipat ng pondo.

Sa naturang batas, itinatakda sa mga government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) na ibalik sa national treasury ang mga sobra at hindi nagagamit na pondo.

"We reiterate that before proceeding with the utilization of GOCC idle funds, our agency exercised due diligence and consulted extensively with the government's legal experts. These include the Governance Commission for GOCCs, the Government Corporate Counsel, and the Commission on Audit. These efforts were undertaken to ensure full compliance with our laws," giit ni Recto.

Kabilang sa mga naghain ng petisyon para pigilin ang naturang fund transfer ng PhilHealth sina Senador Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, Philippine Medical Association, pati na ang 1SAMBAYAN Coalition, na pinangungunahan ni retired SC Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, at maging si Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares.

Itinakda ng SC sa Enero 2025 ang oral arguments tungkol sa petisyon kung bakit hindi dapat ilipat sa national treasury ang sobrang pondo ng PhilHealth.

Paliwanag ni Carpio sa pahayag tungkol sa petisyon at TRO ng SC, “This  saves the poorest of the poor of Filipinos, numbering tens of millions, whose only source of life-saving medicine is the Philhealth.”

“We hope that the Executive Branch will return all the transferred funds back to Philhealth pending the final decision of the Supreme Court,” dagdag niya.-- mula sa ulat ni Joahna Lei Casilao/Ted Cordero FRJ, Integrated News