Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio has emphasized the unconstitutionality of a proposed law that seeks to transfer funds from Philhealth to other government agencies. According to Carpio, the General Appropriations Act of 2024 clearly prohibits such transfers without proper appropriation. The former SC justice explained in an interview with News5Everywhere that Congress cannot pass a law allowing the Secretary of Finance to transfer funds from one agency to another without a specific allocation.
Carpio highlighted the importance of adhering to the Constitution’s provision on appropriations, which requires a clear and transparent process for allocating funds. He emphasized that any attempt to circumvent this process would be unconstitutional.