SC issues TRO vs PhilHeal funds transfer

National

THE Supreme Court (SC) has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to transfer the excess P89.9 billion Philhealth funds to the national treasury.

In an October 29 session, the High Court consolidated the petition filed by 1SAMBAYAN Coalition et al. with the cases of Pimentel et al. v. House of Representatives et al. and Bayan Muna Chairman Neri Colmenares et al. v. President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos..

These petitions challenge the return of excess funds from Philhealth to the national treasury to fund the “unprogrammed appropriations.”

With the SC’s TRO, the scheduled transfer of the P29.9 billion fund in November will be halted.

The said government-owned and controlled corporation initially transferred a total of P60 billion in the last months. P20 billion was transmitted in May, P10 billion in August, and P30 billion in October.

The TRO prevents the further transfer of the said funds, according to SC spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting, who furthered that there’s still a possibility that the highest court will discuss the pleas of petitioners for a status quo ante order, which would allow the return of the funds which were already transferred to the national coffers.

The SC required respondents to file their comments on the petition and application for TRO and/or writ of preliminary injunctions in 10 days, for the 1Sambayan case.

PhilHealth President Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. said they fully respect the decision of the Supreme Court, adding the agency will focus on providing Filipinos “adequate financial protection against health risks through better and responsible benefit packages..”

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto also said they respect the SC’s decision and will cooperate with the highest court as they also look forward to the opportunity to shed light on the issue during the oral arguments.

SC set the oral arguments of the petitions on January 14 next year.(LAO)