Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro also said Herbosa still enjoys the trust of President Marcos despite facing administrative and criminal charges before the Ombudsman.

"Ngayon po, maia-assume natin na (Now, we can assume that) he still enjoys the trust of the President," Castro said in a Palace briefing on Friday, Dec. 5.

"Tingnan po natin kung ito po ay na-receive na po ng Ombudsman, at hayaan po natin ang Ombudsman na mag-imbestiga po rito (Let's see if this was already received by the Ombudsman, and let us leave it to the Ombudsman to look into this)," Castro added, referring to raps alleging Herbosa of interfering in a procurement process.

Meanwhile, Castro defended the move of Executive Secretary Ralph Recto, then Finance secretary, to transfer trust fund balances from PhilHealth and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC).

Responding to the statement of former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio, questioning the legality of Recto's move, Castro said Recto only acted within legal boundaries.

"Nabanggit naman din po ni Justice Carpio ang patungkol sa provision na ito mula sa GAA 2024, at iyon lamang po ay sinunod ng DOF (Justice Carpio also mentioned this provision from the 2024 GAA, and the Department of Finance simply followed it)," Castro said.

"At to sweep the idle funds from the GOCCs (Governennt-owned or -controlled corporation), ito naman po ay bago po ito naganap, inaprubahan po ito ng OSG, Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, Governance Commission for GOCCs, COA pati po ang PhilHealth Board. So, sumunod lamang po ang DoF sa pinag-uutos na naaayon po, in line with the GAA 2024 (And regarding the sweeping of idle funds from the GOCCs, before this took place, it was approved by the OSG, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, the Governance Commission for GOCCs, the COA, and even the PhilHealth Board. So the DoF merely complied with what was mandated, in accordance with the 2024 GAA)," Castro added.