EDITORIAL — Constitutional challenge

As previously announced, medical societies and other interested parties went to the Supreme Court yesterday to challenge the constitutionality of a Department of Finance circular and an insertion in the 2024 General Appropriations Act, which led to the impounding of P89.9 billion in funds of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. to finance the congressional pork barrel.

Amid protests from PhilHealth members, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said the impounded funds are state subsidies that the state health insurer failed to utilize, and not member premiums. Recto said the finance circular is based on a provision inserted by Congress’ bicameral conference on the GAA, which allowed the impounding of “savings” of government-owned and controlled corporations for diversion to unprogrammed appropriations in the national budget.

Unprogrammed appropriations are the latest version of the pork barrel. They get funding only if there are higher or new taxes, but the bicameral conference decided to allow GOCC “savings” as a guaranteed funding source. Now even DOF officials have appealed to lawmakers to temper their appetite for pork, at least beginning 2025. Recto issued the appeal as the unprogrammed appropriations for 2024 ballooned to P731.4 billion from the P281.9 billion originally proposed by Malacañang.

For 2025, the executive is proposing P158.6 billion in unprogrammed appropriations. Nothing, however, stops the bicameral conference from again bloating that amount possibly beyond the current P731.4 billion.

The executive should go beyond appealing to lawmakers to moderate their hunger for pork. It should encourage the two chambers of Congress to refine rules in the bicameral conference to prevent eleventh-hour insertions and “riders” – which is how the petitioners in the Supreme Court case see the provision inserted in the 2024 GAA that allowed the impounding of “excess” GOCC funds.

Such riders are expressly prohibited in the Constitution, according to the petitioners. They also point out that a budget measure cannot sweepingly amend all the existing laws that created each GOCC including PhilHealth – which is what the rider in the 2024 GAA as well as the DOF circular have done. By law, the state health insurer can either cut member premiums or expand its services in case it has excess funds.

With a super majority in Congress, Malacañang should be able to encourage its legislative allies to fine-tune their own rules in the bicameral conference. This controversy should lead to reforms to prevent a repeat of the budgeting acrobatics that now faces a constitutional challenge.