DOF urged: Return P107 billion in PDIC funds

MANILA, Philippines — Political coalition 1Sambayan has urged the heads of the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) to promptly return over P107 billion of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) that was remitted to the national treasury last year.

Citing a Supreme Court (SC) decision that struck down the transfer, 1Sambayan said the P107.23 billion remitted to the BTr in January 2025 is not a government property but trust funds held for bank depositors, who are the rightful beneficial owners.

“The decision is now final and executory. PDIC’s P107.23 billion was transferred under the same provisions already declared void by the Supreme Court. The DOF and the National Treasury are therefore under a clear legal duty to return the funds without delay,” it said.

In its decision last December, the high tribunal said both Special Provision 1(d) of the 2024 GAA and DOF Circular No. 003-2024 must be stricken down as void, for being issued and implemented “with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.”

“Section 11 also expressly provides that no portion of the reserve fund or its income may be transferred to the national government or any of its agencies,” the SC said.

1Sambayan said the ruling stripped the DOF circular of its legal force, effectively barring its use as authority to transfer funds from any government-owned or controlled corporation (GOCCs) to the Treasury.

“The P107.23 billion does not belong to the government. It is held in trust for bank depositors, who are the fund’s beneficial owners. Any diversion of this money violates both statutory and constitutional limits,” the organization said in a statement.

It added that the ruling has become final, placing the DOF and the Treasury under a clear legal obligation to immediately return the funds. Both agencies have yet to comment on the matter.

Executive Secretary Ralph Recto, a former DOF chief, previously said the executive simply complied with the congressional mandate under the 2024 GAA, and that the DOF’s role is solely in revenue generation and debt and deficit management.

Recto said the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, the Governance Commission for GOCCs and the Commission on Audit and the PhilHealth board gave DOF the green light to remit the funds to the treasury.