Criminal complaints have been filed against Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa on the reported P1.29 billion alleged unliquidated funds transferred in 2024 to UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, for the purchase of life-saving vaccines and essential drugs.

The complaints were filed by “Concerned DOH Employees” in a letter received last August 11 by Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) Officer-in-Charge Mariflor Punzalan-Castillo.

The “Concerned DOH Employees” said they submitted the complaints anonymously “out of concern for retaliation, but with a firm sense of duty to uphold the public trust.”

The letter stated that despite the advance of the still unliquidated funds, Secretary Herbosa reportedly initiated a new procurement request to purchase vaccines from UNICEF for an additional P524,926,193.47.

Herbosa was charged with violations of Section 3(g) of Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act; Article 171(d) of the Revised Penal Code of Malversation of Public Funds through Falsification of Public Documents; and RA 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Secretary Herbosa could not be contacted immediately for comment as of posting time. Manila Bulletin will come out with his comment once it is filed with the OMB.

The complaints stated: “It bears stressing that the items under the Subsidiary Ledger of UNICEF were mostly received and/or delivered in February, March, and June 2024. As such, under government accounting rules, the liquidation of these advances becomes due and demandable. As of July 30, 2024, the subject cash advances remained unliquidated.”

It was also alleged that Herbosa allowed the liquidation deadline to lapse without rendering any settlement of accounts.

“Worse, instead of fulfilling this duty, Secretary Herbosa sought to procure additional vaccines using more public funds, without accounting for the first P1.29 billion," it was also alleged.

The complaints also alleged that the cash advances were erroneously declared as advances to contractors since UNICEF is not a contractor but a third-party international organization.

It was alleged that Herbosa did not make a "mere clerical error" in misrepresenting the cash advances, but "deliberately" misclassifying it to mislead auditors and other regulatory bodies.

At the same time, the complaints accused Herbosa of "excessive and inordinate delays" in resolving protests resulting in “several delays of vaccines and medicines… and protests were left to languish for up to 245 days without resolution.”

While some protests were resolved, many others were "indefinitely stalled," the complaints also stated.

Citing a Commission on Audit (COA) observation memorandum, the complaints stated that there were protests involving P1.2 billion worth of pneumococcal and polio vaccines which remained unresolved as of June 11, 2025. On the other hand, it was alleged that the protests by a certain firm were immediately resolved.

The complaints alleged: "These patterns raise legitimate and serious concerns that Secretary Herbosa's conduct either favored certain bidders or punished others, in a manner grossly detrimental to fair competition and public welfare. His omissions, when viewed in contest, amount not only to gross negligence but to a calculated disregard for legal obligations to the detriment of public interest and fair procurement.”

The “DOH Concerned Employees” told the OMB that “the DOH exists to serve the Filipino people - not to protect the interests of a few.”

They stressed: “The people deserve nothing less than the full, unvarnished truth dragged into the light, no matter how fiercely it is buried beneath layers of concealment and official pretense.”