ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro (Contributed photo)

ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro has called on the Marcos administration to reconsider the “unjust” transfer of P89.9 billion in excess funds from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to finance unprogrammed appropriations.

"This blatant raid on PhilHealth funds is not only unreasonACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro (Contributed photo)able but also unjust, especially at a time when our people are struggling with expensive and inaccessible health services amidst a worsening health crisis," Castro said in a statement Sunday, July 21.

The Makabayan lawmaker stressed that instead of diverting these funds, the government should focus on improving the country’s public health system.

"We demand that these funds be directly allocated to public hospitals and health facilities,” she emphasized. 

“Adequate funding should be allotted to public health programs, regular jobs for health workers, and enhancing state-funded health care facilities,” she added.

Castro noted that doing this would eliminate bureaucratic and administrative costs, while also removing the “temptation” of centralized funds that have “repeatedly fallen prey to corruption”.

Earlier, the Department of Finance (DOF) ordered government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCC), such as PhilHealth, to transfer their excess funds to the Bureau of the Treasury.

The agency said this was a “more prudent” option for the government than borrowing or imposing taxes.

Meanwhile, Castro is also calling for accountability from PhilHealth’s handling of its excess funds, which she says warrants a thorough investigation.

"It's alarming that PhilHealth has accumulated such a massive surplus while Filipinos continue to shoulder high out-of-pocket health expenses," she noted.

She pointed out that there was a stark contrast between PhilHealth's budget and that of public hospitals.

According to Castro, the state health insurer’s 2023 budget allocation of P100 billion far exceeded the P65.5 billion total budget allotment for all Department of Health (DOH) public hospitals and facilities in Metro Manila and other regions.

“This disparity has forced public hospitals to charge fees for services, further burdening patients financially," she said.