Department of Finance
Billions in unused and idle funds of government corporations are being marshalled for projects in health, social services, and infrastructure that serve the public, finance growth, and cut poverty.
Unlocking these excess fund balances is a more prudent fiscal option than borrowing more or imposing taxes.
The move does not affect the viability of participating corporations. It does not impair their delivery of services.
To give one example, PhilHealth is left with a P500 billion benefit chest, which can fund multiple-year claims.
It is also worthy to note that remittances to fund urgent national projects do not come from their member contributions but from a fraction of billions in unutilized national government subsidies.
Overall, the move complies with all laws, specifically the General Appropriations Act of 2024, which have imposed appropriations in excess of what the executive branch has originally proposed.
In the case of PhilHealth, unused government subsidies are not part of its reserve funds, nor income that is being restricted by the Universal Health Care Act to be used by the national government as a general fund.
The merit of this tack is best exemplified by the fact that PhilHealth and other GOCC remittances to the treasury are what enabled the DBM to release P27.5 billion to pay the 5.04 million claims of Covid pandemic era service allowances of frontliners.
The same care and diligence were exercised in calibrating the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (PDIC) contribution to the revenue raising effort.
These were made in observance of legal rail guards spelled out in legal opinions by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC).
Moreover, the return of unused and excess funds was approved by the PhilHealth and PDIC’s respective boards.
The result promotes the common good, based on the list of recipients identified in the national budget.
Some of these are ongoing Foreign-Assisted Projects (FAPs), such as the Metro Manila Subway Project, the North-South Commuter Railway System, and the PNR South Long Haul Project, among other big-ticket infrastructure projects.
Other FAPs are the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) Project and the Philippine Fisheries and Coastal Resiliency Project.
Other critical projects we have commitments to meet are the Philippine Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Project; Supporting Innovation in the Philippine Technical and Vocational Education and Training System; the Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project; and the Philippine Rural Development Project, to name a few.
They will also be utilized to support the Community-based Monitoring System for the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA); and the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) Program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), among other development initiatives.
Tapping GOCC surplus for urgent public programs is similar, but on a far more smaller scale, to what the government did with Bayanihan when it called up the cash hoard of GOCCs in the fight against Covid.
We cannot afford to have excess money sleeping in our GOCCs while withholding the same funds from public investment. Hibernating funds can help the nation without harming government corporations. This way, the government does not have to inflict additional taxes, increase our debt, and put pressure on our deficit.
The DOF remains steadfast in its stewardship of sound fiscal policy which includes efficient mobilization of government resources to promote general public welfare. (PR)
