A group of doctors and lawyers on Thursday, June 18, appealed to the Office of the Ombudsman to reverse its dismissal of criminal and administrative complaints against Executive Secretary Ralph Recto and former PhilHealth chief Emmanuel Ledesma Jr.
The move follows a June 2, 2026 consolidated resolution by the Ombudsman, which cleared Recto—the former Finance Secretary—and Ledesma of plunder, graft, technical malversation, and grave misconduct. The anti-graft body had ruled that there was no prima facie evidence linking the officials to wrongdoing regarding the transfer of PhilHealth reserve funds to the National Treasury.
In response, the complainants submitted a 49-page motion for reconsideration, asserting that the Ombudsman made factual and legal errors when it dropped the cases surrounding the ₱60 billion fund transfer.
“The motion seeks reconsideration of the dismissal of the criminal complaints for technical malversation, violations of Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, plunder, and the administrative charge of grave misconduct,” the complainants said in a statement.
The group highlighted Recto’s previous legislative role, noting that as the representative for Batangas’ 6th District, he helped craft the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA) before taking over the Finance portfolio in January 2024.
They pointed out that Recto was one of 12 lawmakers on the bicameral conference committee that finalized the 2024 national budget in November 2023.
According to the complainants, a key provision—Special Provision 1(d) of the 2024 GAA—was inserted exclusively during these bicameral meetings and did not exist in the initial House or Senate versions of the bill.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. later signed the GAA into law on December 20, 2023.
Furthermore, the legal and medical coalition argued that the Ombudsman erred by requiring proof of criminal intent to sustain the technical malversation charge. They emphasized that the offense is mala prohibita—a legal term meaning the act itself is forbidden regardless of the person’s intentions.
“[C]riminal intent is not an element of technical malversation. The law punishes the act of diverting public property earmarked by law or ordinance for a particular public purpose to another public purpose,” they said.
The group insisted that given their high-ranking positions, both Recto and Ledesma should have known the legal boundaries protecting PhilHealth assets.
According to the motion, the respondents “deliberately, willfully, and maliciously acted with evident bad faith, dishonesty, and grave misconduct” when they facilitated the transfer of ₱60 billion in reserve funds to the National Treasury.
The complainants concluded that because the alleged infraction is mala prohibita, any defenses of good faith or honest mistakes are legally irrelevant, as the law focuses solely on the unauthorized diversion of earmarked public funds.