HEALTH advocate Dr. Tony Leachon filed formal complaints for plunder and technical malversation with the Office of the Ombudsman on Monday, naming Executive Secretary Ralph Recto and several other Cabinet officials as respondents.
The cases stem from the transfer of excess funds amounting to ₱60 billion from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and ₱107 billion from the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) to the National Treasury. Leachon argues that the movement of these funds constitutes a criminal misuse of state resources, emphasizing that the money was specifically earmarked for essential services and insurance protections intended for the public.
Leachon stressed that his legal action is strongly supported by a 2025 Supreme Court ruling, which declared unconstitutional a special provision in the 2024 General Appropriations Act. That provision had authorized the remittance of surplus funds from government‑owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) to the National Treasury. It was under this now-invalidated provision that the Department of Finance, then led by Recto, issued a circular ordering the transfer of ₱89.9 billion from PhilHealth. However, since only ₱60 billion had actually been moved when the High Court issued its decision, the order was limited to the return of that specific amount.
According to Leachon, diverting the ₱60 billion intended for indigent families and primary healthcare services directly undermined the people’s constitutional right to health.
He pointed out that PhilHealth was already facing a ₱356.6 billion deficit at the time, a situation that left many hospitals unpaid, critical programs such as cancer treatment and dialysis severely underfunded, and millions of Filipinos without adequate medical support. In his statement, he described the fund transfer as a betrayal of public trust, asserting that these resources were stripped from their rightful purpose and diverted elsewhere, depriving vulnerable citizens of the care and security they were promised.
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