Manila, April 3 -- Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said Thursday the move to redirect Philippine Health Insurance Corporation's (PhilHealth) excess funds is "legal, moral, and economically sound".

"I stand before you, Your Honors, to humbly assert that the move to revert these excess funds is not only legal. But it is also economically sound and a moral duty. We cannot, in good conscience, allow funds to languish in bank accounts as our nation's needs multiply daily," Recto said during the fifth oral argument at the Supreme Court on the consolidated petitions challenging the constitutionality of the transfer of PHP89.9 billion unused funds to the national treasury.

Recto reiterated the legality of the policy, which he said, has been affir...