SEN. Loren Legarda said Friday that the remittance of P107.23 billion from the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) to the National Treasury should be scrutinized thoroughly. ​Legarda said the transfer, made under a special provision in the 2024 General Appropriations Act, was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. She argued that the ruling underscores the “fundamentally flawed” nature of the remittance and raises serious moral and policy concerns about how the state handles trust funds intended for public protection. ​The amount was taken from the PDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund, which is built from premiums paid by member banks and is intended solely to insure deposits and respond to bank closures. By law, the fund serves as a financial safety net for depositors in the event of bank failures. ​“PDIC funds exist to ensure deposits and protect ordinary Filipinos when banks fail,” Legarda said. “They are not surplus funds and should not be treated as general revenues, but reserves meant to ensure that depositors do not lose their savings.” ​Legarda cautioned that diverting deposit insurance reserves to the National Treasury — even if intended for development spending — could undermine confidence in the country’s deposit insurance system. She said this could weaken the financial safety net relied upon by small depositors, retirees, overseas Filipino workers and micro-entrepreneurs. ​The senator stressed that trust in the banking system depends heavily on the assurance that insured deposits are backed by adequate and untouchable reserves. Any perception that such funds can be repurposed for general spending, she said, risks eroding that assurance. ​Legarda drew parallels with a recent Supreme Court decision involving the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), where the high court struck down as unconstitutional the transfer of P89.9 billion in health insurance funds. The ruling, she noted, resulted in fewer resources available for health care services and sparked public debate over the safeguarding of social protection funds. ​“Whether it is health insurance or deposit insurance, funds collected and reserved to protect people in times of crisis must be respected as a trust,” Legarda said. “When these safeguards are weakened, the cost is ultimately borne by ordinary Filipinos.” ​Legarda called on the government to stop treating social protection reserves as general-purpose funds and urged Congress to review and correct policies that could weaken trust funds essential to maintaining public confidence in the financial system. ​“Our responsibility is not just to manage public finances, but to protect funds that people rely on in moments of crisis,” she said. “These reserves exist to provide security when it is most needed, and they must be preserved for that purpose.”