The Supreme Court’s ruling ordering the government to return the P60-billion funds from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) only confirms that the law leaves no room for diversion, Sen. Pia Cayetano said.

Cayetano pointed this out as she reiterated her belief PhilHealth funds must remain dedicated to the healthcare of Filipinos.

“PhilHealth funds exist for the health of the Filipino people and cannot be used for any other purpose,” Cayetano said.

From the outset of the 2026 budget deliberations, the senator repeatedly cautioned that years of underfunding PhilHealth ran counter to the letter and intent of existing laws.

In her interpellation on the General Principles of the 2026 national budget, she presented a four-year deficit of P129.96-billion between sin tax revenues mandated for PhilHealth and the amounts actually released.

She also lamented how the removal of the P60-billion from PhilHealth’s subsidy deepened the gap between it and the earmarked funds for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) that had not been transmitted since 2019.

According to Cayetnao, almost P300-billion in legally earmarked health funds had not reached PhilHealth despite explicit statutory requirements.

“It shall be allocated and used exclusively in the following manner. What else is there to say? As lawmakers, what language do we need to use to make sure that the funds would be used for this?” she said, emphasizing that the mandates of the Sin Tax laws and the Universal Health Care Act leave no room for administrative reinterpretation.

Earlier, Cayetano had objected to the removal of PhilHealth’s government subsidy in 2025, making her sign the bicameral report of the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) with reservations.

She said the issue of PhilHealth’s excess funds should be addressed separately.

“This is about upholding the law and protecting the rights of millions of Filipinos who rely on PhilHealth coverage,” Cayetano emphasized.

“As we welcome this decision, we celebrate it together with the advocates who fought for it, but above all, with the Filipino people who stand to benefit the most…Our responsibility now is to ensure that every peso ordered returned remains in the final GAA and fulfills its purpose of improving the health and lives of our people,” she said.