Health reform advocate Dr. Anthony Leachon has brought plunder and technical malversation charges before the Office of the Ombudsman against several senior government officials, accusing them of illegally redirecting billions in state health and insurance funds.
The 19-page complaint, filed on May 24, names Health Secretary Ted Herbosa — who simultaneously chairs PhilHealth’s Board of Directors — acting Finance Secretary Frederick Go, former acting budget secretary Rolando Toledo, PhilHealth president and CEO Dr. Edwin Mercado, former PhilHealth chief Emmanuel Ledesma Jr., PDIC president and CEO Roberto Tan, and unidentified PDIC directors, alongside Executive Secretary Ralph Recto.
Leachon, a former Department of Health special adviser on non-communicable diseases, argued that the combined transfer of P60 billion from Philippine Health Insurance Corp. reserves and P107 billion from the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. to the National Treasury satisfied the threshold for ill-gotten wealth under Republic Act 7080, the anti-plunder law.
He further charged technical malversation under Article 220 of the Revised Penal Code, contending that intent to personally profit need not be proven. “Even without proof of personal enrichment, the misuse of earmarked health and insurance funds for unauthorized purposes constitutes technical malversation,” Leachon said.
At the center of the dispute is the 2025 transfer of PhilHealth’s P60-billion reserve fund, which Recto — then serving as finance secretary — had publicly defended as “legal, moral and economically sound.” Leachon countered that the move violated the Universal Health Care Law and Sin Tax earmarking provisions, both of which mandate that such funds remain with PhilHealth to serve indigent beneficiaries and bolster primary health care.
The Supreme Court later weighed in, unanimously ordering in December last year that the P60 billion be restored to the 2026 national budget. PhilHealth subsequently received the returned funds from the National Treasury five months later.
Recto has rejected the complaint outright. “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. Citing Associate Justice Ricardo Rosario, Recto argued that no criminal liability could be attached to a 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.” He also denied having personally benefited from the transfers.
Leachon, for his part, maintained that the charges “expose both criminal enrichment and reckless misuse of public funds,” framing the complaint as necessary accountability for officials he holds responsible for orchestrating the controversial diversions.
