2 hours ago
2
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
Rhodina Villanueva - The Philippine Star
May 26, 2026 | 12:00am
Executive Secretary Ralph Recto
DOF
MANILA, Philippines — An independent health reform advocate yesterday filed plunder and technical malversation charges before the Office of the Ombudsman against Executive Secretary Ralph Recto and other Cabinet officials over the diversion of P60 billion in Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) reserve funds and P107 billion from the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC).
In a 19-page complaint submitted last May 24, Dr. Anthony Leachon said plunder under Republic Act 7080 was committed by the officials as the diversion of funds met the threshold for ill-gotten wealth.
“Recto’s orchestration and defense of these transfers reveal intent and culpability,” Leachon said in a statement.
Aside from plunder, Leachon also filed a technical malversation case under Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code.
“Even without proof of personal enrichment, the misuse of earmarked health and insurance funds for unauthorized purposes constitutes technical malversation,” he said.
Also named respondents were Health Secretary Ted Herbosa, who also chairs PhilHealth’s Board of Directors; acting Finance Secretary Frederick Go; former acting budget secretary Rolando Toledo; PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Dr. Edwin Mercado; former PhilHealth president and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr.; PDIC president and CEO Roberto Tan and other unidentified PDIC directors and officials.
The former Department of Health special adviser for non-communicable diseases added that the charges “expose both criminal enrichment and reckless misuse of public funds.”
The controversy stemmed from the 2025 transfer of P60 billion from PhilHealth reserves to the National Treasury, which then-secretary of the Department of Finance Recto had described as “legal, moral and economically sound.”
In December last year, the Supreme Court unanimously ordered the return of the P60-billion PhilHealth funds to the 2026 national budget.
Five months later, PhilHealth received the returned amount from the National Treasury to support efforts to improve health care services.
Leachon argued that the transfer violated the Universal Health Care Law and Sin Tax earmarking provisions, which require the funds to remain with PhilHealth to support indigent families and strengthen primary health care services.
‘Harassment’
Recto, however, dismissed the complaint as “nothing but a nuisance and a harassment case.”
Quoting Associate Justice Ricardo Rosario, he said that no criminal liability can be attached to the finance secretary “who carried out the statutory commands in good faith, pursuant to a law then presumed valid, and without any intention to divert funds contrary to legislative will.”
“This is nothing but a nuisance and a harassment case. And it should not be tossed aside gently. It should be thrown out with great force,” he said.
He also denied Leachon’s allegations that he personally benefited from the funds. — Ghio Ong, Helen Flores
