Complainant laments clearing of Recto, Ledesma in PhilHealth fund transfer issue

One of the complainants who sued former Finance secretary Ralph Recto and ex-PhilHealth chief Emmanuel Ledesma, Jr. maintained that they have criminal liability over the transfer of P60 billion in PhilHealth funds to the National Treasury.

“I [still] have to consult with my co-complainants who are lawyers and doctors from Iloilo. But once we have the copy of the [Ombudsman] Resolution, I would say we have the necessary and appropriate recourse, such as [filing a] motion for reconsideration and other actions,” Rodel Taton said in an online press conference.

The Ombudsman cleared Recto and Ledesma of technical malversation, violations of Section 3 of Republic Act No. 3019, and plunder, saying the transfer of PhilHealth reserve funds was allowed under the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

“What we are saying, and we have been repeating here, is criminal liability exists [for Recto and Ledesma] because as a public servant, you have the duty to hold the funds in an honest and efficient way. But [in here], you did not do your duty as a person entrusted with the funds of the government. Is that okay just because there is no personal interest involved?” Taton added.

In clearing Recto and Ledesma, the Ombudsman also said that Recto’s decision to send the P60 billion funds to PhilHealth in compliance with a 2025 Supreme Court decision declaring the 2025 budget law provision allowing such transfer as illegal made the allegation of personal enrichment without basis.

Taton, however, said that good faith is not a catch-all defense.

“Good faith cannot be used to remove violations of special laws, for example, Universal Health Care, and we raise concerns that the legal opinions relied upon by the respondents are really ambiguous, and that there was a misrepresentation in some of their responses,” he said.

Taton was referring to the provision of the Universal Health Care law which provides that the government subsidy to PhilHealth should only be spent on implementation of the Universal Health Care law.

The P60-billion PhilHealth fund initially transferred to the National Treasury was a government subsidy for the state-run PhilHealth.

“We have to remember that the criminal liability and criminal questions were not raised in the Supreme Court [decision],” Taton added. — BM, GMA News