Executive Secretary Ralph Recto on Monday brushed off a complaint filed against him before the Office of the Ombudsman regarding the controversial transfer of billions of pesos in PhilHealth reserve funds, branding the legal action as a politically motivated harassment suit devoid of legal basis.
The complaint, lodged by public health advocate Dr. Anthony Leachon, accuses Recto and other government officials of unlawfully transferring ₱60 billion in PhilHealth reserve funds and ₱107 billion from the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation to the national treasury.
Leachon noted that the transfer proceeded despite warnings from health experts and the subsequent striking down of the contested budget provisions by the Supreme Court.
Recto, who faces the complaint for actions taken during his tenure as Finance Secretary, strongly defended the move, arguing that the transfer was a non-discretionary directive mandated by Congress under the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“At the onset, the transfer was mandated by law under the General Appropriations Act of 2024. Inutusan ng Kongreso ang Department of Finance Secretary,” (The Congress ordered the Department of Finance Secretary,) Recto countered.
To solidify his defense, the Executive Secretary cited separate opinions from Supreme Court justices who maintained that public officials implementing the budget provision in good faith should not face criminal liability. Recto highlighted the perspective of Associate Justice Raul Villanueva, who noted that penalizing a finance chief for fulfilling a statutory obligation would be equivalent to punishing an official simply for doing their job.
Recto also referenced a Supreme Court press release dated December 5, 2025, which indicated a consensus among several justices that the finance secretary acted without criminal intent and relied on existing legal clearances.
“[N]o liability for technical malversation may attach. The officials carried out the statutory commands in good faith,” Recto quoted from the high court’s separate opinions.
The former finance chief further clarified that the entire ₱60 billion had already been fully restored to PhilHealth, firmly denying any allegations of personal enrichment.
“An elementary understanding of public expenditure would lead one to conclude that I was not and never in a position to have been able to touch a single centavo of it,” he said, labeling the accusations of personal benefit as “libelous.”
Recto concluded his statement by accusing his detractors of spreading misinformation for political relevance ahead of the next administration, while hinting at a potential countersuit against the orchestrators of the case.