The vice chair of the House appropriations committee said Congress has already carried out the only legal remedy to return P60 billion to PhilHealth as ordered by the Supreme Court.
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the funds were restored through the 2026 national budget because “the mechanism for returning the money is the same as the mechanism for getting it.”
His remarks came after Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David urged President Marcos and Congress not to “simply backfill” the P60 billion but to recover it from those who profited from the diversion.
David said he rejected the idea of refunding PhilHealth through the proposed 2026 budget, saying “no thanks.”
Adiong stressed that the House complied swiftly with President Marcos’ directive last September, even before the Supreme Court voided the fund transfer on Dec. 3.
Under Malacañang’s proposed National Expenditure Program, PhilHealth was originally set to receive P53 billion for 2026.
The House later added the full P60 billion, raising PhilHealth’s allocation to P113 billion and placing the amount in the general appropriations bill.
Adiong said the restoration was funded using savings from the Department of Public Works and Highways’ proposed budget, which freed up P255.5 billion for social programs.
He said Congress followed the Constitution and strengthened universal health care, while accountability efforts may continue as separate legal matters.
Petitioners like Bayan Muna’s Neri Colmenares are now calling for a full accounting and investigation into how the P60 billion was spent and which projects benefited from the transfer.