Enough funds to return PhilHealth’s ₧60B
BusinessMirror
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By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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HE government has sufficient funds to return the P60 billion in reserve funds of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) taken last year, according to the Department of Finance (DOF). “We have cash available,” Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto told BusinessMirror. Recto said the fund may be returned to PhilHealth by including it in the 2026 National
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Expenditure Program, unless a legal authority is found to release it earlier. The P60-billion fund can be inserted during the period of amendments, where lawmakers may still introduce changes to the national budget through committee amendments or via individual amendments before the General Appropriations Bill is approved on second reading. On Saturday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced that the P60 billion remitted by PhilHealth to the Bureau of the Treasury
last year will be returned to the state health insurer. This comes after government agencies, mainly the Department of Public Works and Highways, generated savings, which can be reallocated to fund the expansion of PhilHealth’s services, Marcos said. The DOF issued a statement after the Palace move, welcoming Marcos’ decision to restore PhilHealth’s funds. “The DOF confirms that it had communicated to the President a solicited opinion that
since PhilHealth had improved its revenue performance, it supports a fund augmentation to boost the expansion of benefits and services, and that it fully recommends the restoration of the reverted P60 billion,” it said. The termination and suspension of flood control projects also opened up the fiscal space, which made the fund restoration possible and will enable PhilHealth to meet its Zero Balance Billing program obligations. “The expansion of services requires the See “Enough,” A8
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AUG BOP A SURPLUS, BUT $5.4-B 8-MO GAP POSTED www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Monday, September 22, 2025 Vol. 20 No. 344
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A NATION ON THE MOVE: THE TRILLION PESO MARCH FOR ACCOUNTABILITY Early Sunday morning, students at the University of the Philippines in Diliman draped the Oblation statue in black, ahead of the nationwide Trillion Peso March. By midday, thousands had joined rallies from Baguio to Olongapo, Luneta to EDSA, pressing for accountability in alleged ghost flood-control projects and other corruption scandals. In Baguio, about 5,000 marchers paraded through Harrison Road to People’s Park, while in Olongapo, protesters tore up mock “contracts” to denounce fake projects. Also in Baguio, ralliers turned out in their own fashion statements, some even bringing dogs to add color. Hosts of the TV show It’s Showtime, including Vice Ganda and Anne Curtis, also joined the protest, as crowds filled Luneta, the EDSA Shrine, and the People Power Monument with a unified call: return plundered public funds and jail the guilty. But as the day wore on, the mood shifted. Near Malacañang, black-clad protesters clashed with police at Mendiola—barricades were breached, stones were hurled, and a truck was torched. At least 17 were arrested, and images of a protester striking a policeman captured the violent turn. From pets on parade to fiery clashes at Mendiola, the Trillion Peso March revealed both the passion and peril of a people demanding clean governance and justice. NONIE REYES, NONOY LACZA, BERNARD TESTA, ROY DOMINGO, MARILOU GUIEB, MAU VICTA, JUSTINE XYRAH GARCIA, ZOE DAVAD, HENRY EMPEÑO, AP/AARON FAVILA
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By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
HE country’s Balance of Payments (BOP) may have posted a surplus in August but remained in deficit in the January to August period, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Data showed the country’s BOP posted a surplus of $359 million in August on the back of BSP’s net income from investments abroad, but was at a deficit of $5.4 billion in the eight-month period this year due to the trade deficit.
In 2024, the BOP posted a surplus of $88 million in August, which contributed to the $1.592 billion surplus in the January to August period. “Preliminary data indicate that the year-to-date BOP deficit was See “Aug,” A2
TRAVELING TO EUROPE? HERE’S A BRIEF ON NEW EU ENTRY RULES By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo Special to the BusinessMirror
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F brandishing entry stamps on your passport is your thing to show off how well you are traveled, that will soon be a thing of the past especially if you’re a frequent visitor to Europe. Starting October 12, the Schengen region will gradually implement its Entry/Exit System (EES) that will phase out those physi-
cal marks on the passport, with full implementation targeted by April 10, 2026. “The EES is an automated IT system for registering non-EU nationals traveling for a short stay, each time they cross the external borders” of 29 countries, according to the European Union’s Travel Europe website. Separately, the region will also be implementing the European Travel Information and See “Traveling,” A2
Rallies have short-term hit but long-term gain
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ROTESTS staged against corruption nationwide on Sunday may have shortterm adverse economic impacts but economists believe this may have long-term upside effects, particularly with regard to the country’s goal of becoming an Upper Middle Income Country (UMIC). Ateneo de Manila University economist Leonardo Lanzona Jr. told BusinessMirror that the protests may create short-term disruptions, particularly in terms of attracting investments and economic growth. However, Lanzona said long-term conse-
quences could be in order, especially if this will lead to greater accountability and transparency, not only with regard to flood control projects but also contribute to an improvement in good governance efforts. “This process can be long and excruciating, but we need to have this social transformation if we intend to reach upper middle income level. To be clear, the main objective should be to ferret out the truth,” Lanzona told this newspaper on Sunday. “If we can achieve this, the unity that we hope See “Rallies,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 57.0570 n JAPAN 0.3857 n UK 77.3750 n HK 7.3363 n CHINA 8.0218 n SINGAPORE 44.5097 n AUSTRALIA 37.7261 n EU 67.2588 n KOREA 0.0411 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.2140 Source: BSP (September 19, 2025)