A group of lawyers and health advocates filed on Thursday criminal complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman against Executive Secretary Ralph Recto.
The complaint is in connection with the alleged illegal transfer of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) funds to the national treasury during his tenure as Finance secretary.
Among the respondents also included former PhilHealth president Emmanuel Ledesma Jr.
Meanwhile, the complainants were Dean Rodel Taton Jr., Dr. Cynthia Ng, Dr. Milagros Layson, Dr. Edna Medez, Dr. Noel Binayas, Dr. Cynthia Amatril, Dr. Maria Evelyn Divinagracia, and Justin Francis Binoyat.
Other complainants were lawyer Clyde Gacayan, Dr. Louie Tirador, and Dr. Marcelo Jaen.
The filing is the second plunder complaint filed against Recto and Ledesma before the Office of the Ombudsman.
Aside from plunder, the other charges were technical malversation, grave misconduct, and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The group is asking the Ombudsman to conduct the necessary preliminary investigation, as well as to order their preventive suspension.
In December, members of the Save the Philippines Coalition also filed complaints alleging that the said transfer was illegal.
Earlier, the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the return of P60 billion in remitted funds to PhilHealth through the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Lawyer, doctor group file raps vs. Recto over PhilHealth funds”
