royal panalo DOF vows to cooperate with SC TRO on Philhealth funds transfer

MANILA, Philippines — Finance Secretary Ralph Recto vowed full cooperation with the Supreme Court after the latter issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the transfer of Philhealth funds. royal panalo

The Department of Finance (DOF) previously ordered Philhealth to transfer P89.9 billion worth of idle funds back to the national coffers, a move that garnered criticism from different medical groups and lawmakers. 

“We give our full cooperation to the Supreme Court 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,” Recto said in a statement. 

However, Recto reiterated that the transfer order was legal. 

In the 2024 General Appropriations Act, there is a provision that allows the DOF to reallocate idle funds for other uses. Lawmakers were surprised to find the provision, which appeared to be made in the Bicameral conference between the Senate and the House of Representatives. 

“We reiterate that before proceeding with the utilization of GOCC (government-owned and controlled corporations) 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,” Recto said.

Recto said that before the transfer order was made, the DOF had already consulted all of its legal experts. 

The DOF said it has favorable legal opinions of the matter. The Philhealth transfer is divided into four trenches, with three of them already finished. The final payment worth P29.9 billion was scheduled for November.   

 

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