EDITORIAL — Return the PDIC funds, too

The P60 billion pilfered from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. to finance the congressional pork barrel is not the only amount that must be restored.

A bigger amount is the P107.23 billion impounded together with the PhilHealth “excess funds,” through a wave of the magic wand at the bicameral conference on the 2024 national budget, and implemented through a department circular released by then finance secretary Ralph Recto.

That P107.23 billion came from a trust fund, the Deposit Insurance Fund, mandatorily contributed to the PDIC by all private and government banks from their depositors. The PDIC was created by virtue of Republic Act 3591 in June 1963, with its principal mandate of protecting all bank deposits. The DIF currently covers up to P1 million in deposits per bank account.

Republic Act 11975, the 2024 General Appropriations Act, effectively amended RA 3591 by diverting P107.23 billion to the national treasury to finance the unprogrammed appropriations, a.k.a. the new pork barrel, in the GAA.

Also effectively amended by RA 11975, by a sleight of hand in the bicam that no one would admit responsibility for, are the individual laws that created PhilHealth and each of the other government-owned and controlled corporations whose supposed “excess funds” were impounded to finance the unprogrammed appropriations, most of which went to flood control projects.

Following the Supreme Court ruling ordering the return of the P60 billion to PhilHealth and stopping further transfers to the national treasury, business groups expressed concern over the funds impounded  from PDIC and also demanded the return of the P107.23 billion.

The groups said the impounding blurred the line between a financial safety net, which is what the DIF is, and a fiscal instrument, setting a dangerous precedent and creating uncertainty about the integrity and independence of the deposit insurance system.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Makati Business Club, Financial Executives of the Philippines, Institute of Corporate Directors and Philippine Finance Association also said the PDIC must be excluded from dividend collections and fiscal transfers.

Earlier this year, the PDIC had said the diverted funds were used to finance infrastructure projects including two bridges and the Metro Manila subway, and two politicized dole-out programs – the food stamp and the AICS or Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations.

Why is the PDIC trust fund being used for public works projects and ayuda? This is creative fund juggling bordering on the criminal.

The Marcos administration must heed the call of the business groups: “Returning the remitted funds will reaffirm that the resources of the PDIC are reserved exclusively for their intended purpose, to safeguard the savings of the Filipino people.”