Ex-DOH official clears up ‘confusion’ over PhilHealth funds transfer

I write in response to Mr. Jake Maderazo’s column (see “Bogus ‘plunder’ narrative against Recto,” 12/4/25), which asserts that concerns over the P60-billion Philippine Health Insurance Corp. transfer amount to a “bogus plunder narrative” fueled by confusion.

As a former PhilHealth senior vice president and Department of Health undersecretary involved in the passing of the national health insurance law and the sin tax law, I would like to clear the “confusion” where the Supreme Court has already delivered clarity. With respect, this framing misleads readers and obscures the central fact that resolves the issue entirely: the Supreme Court has already ruled the transfer illegal.

This is not a matter of political spin nor of people misunderstanding budget mechanics. It is a matter of law. PhilHealth’s reserve funds are special, earmarked health insurance funds—contributed by workers, senior citizens, overseas Filipino workers, and taxpayers, and under the Universal Health Care Act and National Health Insurance Act, they are prohibited from being used as unprogrammed appropriations for unrelated spending. The Court affirmed this unequivocally.

This is not about painting anyone as a villain; it is about respecting the law, respecting the Court, and respecting the millions of Filipinos whose contributions were diverted without their consent.

To describe public concern as “noise” or “confusion” is to dismiss legitimate questions about the protection of public funds that citizens are duty-bound to contribute. Every peso placed in PhilHealth represents a promise that it will be used for health care (NOT for FLOOD CONTROL), and for programs such as Konsulta and diagnosis related groups that are still struggling to meet demand.

Dismissing legitimate outrage as “noise” is a classic whitewash move. It ignores the core truth. A total of P60 billion meant for health care was diverted illegally. Maderazo’s article risks whitewashing a serious crisis of public trust: funds for health care now become pliable for infrastructure, pork barrel or, other unprogrammed spending. That is not fiscal responsibility—it is fiscal bait and switch!

This is why the Supreme Court’s ruling matters. It is not an opinion—it is a constitutional guardrail! And it deserves to be acknowledged, not minimized. The public is not confused. If there is confusion, it stems not from the public but from efforts to defend a fund transfer that the highest court of the land has already struck down. Clarity exists. The ruling is clear.

Accountability is not outrage; it is the minimum that a functioning health-care system and a functioning democracy require.