When the Supreme Court (SC) slammed the brakes on the Marcos Jr. administration’s attempt to siphon off ₱60 billion from PhilHealth’s reserve funds, the ruling was more than a legal rebuke—it was a moral indictment. Yet Malacañang’s response? A predictable mix of selective humility, bureaucratic self-defense, and political gymnastics designed to make the unconstitutional appear “common sense.”
Former Finance Secretary, now Executive Secretary, Ralph Recto, astonishingly described the fund transfer as common sense.” Really? Raiding the health insurance reserves of 115 million Filipinos, especially the poor, sick, elderly, and vulnerable, is now common sense? If this is Marcos Jr.’s administration’s definition of rational governance, then we’ve entered a disturbing era in which legality is optional, and morality is disposable.
Let’s be clear: PhilHealth’s reserve funds are not government piggybank money. The Universal Health Care Act (UHC) and the Sin Tax Law explicitly protect these reserves because they fund life-saving benefits- chemotherapy, dialysis, catastrophic care, and hospital confinement. The SC ruled that diverting these funds to the National Treasury was illegal, unconstitutional, and a betrayal of the UHC’s very purpose. For the administration, however, the issue was never moral. It was simply “budgetary maneuvering.”
Malacañang’s official reaction tried to soften the blow: “We respect the SC,” they said, while quickly adding that the Office of the Solicitor General might still contest the ruling. That’s not respect; that’s hedged defiance. It’s the political equivalent of saying “sorry, but not sorry.” Legality was their excuse; illegality is now their exposure.
What makes this move deeply immoral is simple: They gambled with the nation’s health.
Amid rising healthcare costs, fragile hospital systems, and millions living on the brink of poverty, the Marcos government attempted to strip PhilHealth of its safety net. The poor—who rely on PhilHealth the most—were placed at the very bottom of the administration’s priorities. The blind audacity to call this “common sense” is not just tone-deaf; it is profoundly unethical and immoral.
And then came the spin: the Palace claimed that Marcos Jr. had already “ordered the return” of the ₱60 billion even before the Court’s decision, as if this magically absolves him. This revisionist narrative paints him as a benevolent protector of UHC, when in reality the administration attempted a legally dubious fund grab and was caught. The 2026 budget, now including the restored ₱60 billion, is not a sign of goodwill—it is forced compliance. The SC ordered the government to return what should never have been taken.
Conclusion:
This saga reveals the true crisis: not just fiscal mismanagement, but moral bankruptcy at the highest levels of government. When a president and his then finance secretary defend unconstitutional acts as “common sense,” what they really mean is that they think the Filipino people won’t notice the theft if they smile while doing it. But the SC noticed. The public noticed. And history will, too.
Source: The Lobbyist
https://www.thelobbyist.biz/perspectives/article-details/prime%20insight/the-peso60-billion-philhealth-heist-in-broad-daylight
