FACT CHECK: Supreme Court did not file charges vs Marcos over PhilHealth fund transfer

Claim: The Supreme Court (SC) has filed charges against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. over the transfer of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) funds.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The TikTok video containing the claim has 34,000 views, 561 likes, 46 comments, and 46 shares as of writing.

It shows a clip from the SC’s press briefing, with text overlaid on it that reads, “Supreme Court, kinasuhan si Pangulong Marcos Jr. kaugnay sa isyu ng paglipat ng PhilHealth funds.”

(The Supreme Court filed charges against President Marcos Jr. related to the transfer of PhilHealth funds.)

Several viewers appear to believe the claim, with comments such as, “Salamat, SC. Sana mabigyan ng hustisya ang taong-bayan sa pagnanakaw ng pondo ng PhilHealth.”

(Thank you, SC. Hopefully, justice will be served to the people for the theft of PhilHealth funds.)

The facts: The Supreme Court has not filed any charges against Marcos. As the country’s highest court, the SC’s role is to review, affirm, reverse, or modify decisions of lower courts. It does not file charges, but only hears cases brought to it directly in the first instance or rules on orders of lower courts.

Moreover, under Philippine law, a sitting president enjoys immunity from suit. As affirmed in De Lima vs. Duterte and David vs. Macapagal-Arroyo, presidents cannot be sued in any civil or criminal case during their term. This immunity exists to prevent litigation from interfering with the execution of executive duties, which could impair government functions.

A president, however, could be “removed from office only in the mode provided by law and that is by impeachment.”

Return of PhilHealth funds: The TikTok post misrepresents a clip from the High Court’s press briefer, making it seem like an announcement of charges filed against Marcos.

The press briefer on October 29, 2024, was about the SC’s issuance of a temporary restraining order on the further transfer of excess PhilHealth funds to the National Treasury.

The order was in response to petitions filed by various groups questioning the transfer of PhilHealth’s P89.9 billion to the Treasury, following an April 2024 directive from the Department of Finance, which several groups widely criticized as unconstitutional.

Prior to the issuance of the TRO, however, PhilHealth had already carried out three of four scheduled transfers.

On September 20, 2025, Marcos announced the return of P60 billion in PhilHealth funds to the state health insurer. The President said the return was made possible due to government savings, mainly from the Department of Public Works and Highways, and aimed to improve PhilHealth’s services and operations.

While civil society groups welcomed the return of funds, former lawmakers have asked the SC to decide on the consolidated petitions questioning the legality of the fund transfer to prevent similar “unconstitutional and illegal acts” in future budget cycles. – Marjuice Destinado/Rappler.com

Marjuice Destinado is a senior political science student at Cebu Normal University (CNU) and an alumna of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2025.