Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said the government has fully complied with the Supreme Court’s ruling on the transfer of PhilHealth funds, stressing that the issue has already been addressed and resolved at the institutional level.

Recto said this after a group of medical doctors and lawyers filed complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman against him and former PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. over the transfer of PhilHealth’s excess funds. The complainants accused the two officials of technical malversation, graft, plunder, and grave misconduct in connection with the remittance of P60 billion to the National Treasury.

In a statement on Thursday, Jan. 15, Recto said the Supreme Court has already acted on the matter and that funding for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation has since been restored and even augmented to ensure better services for Filipinos.

“The issue has already been addressed by the Supreme Court, and the government has fully complied with its ruling,” he said.

“Consistent with this, funding for PhilHealth has since been restored and even augmented in order to better serve our countrymen,” he added.

While saying that he respects any individual’s right to seek legal remedies and to avail themselves of the processes provided under the country’s laws, Recto reiterated that no criminal liability may attach to him over the fund transfer, citing the opinion of Supreme Court justices that he acted in good faith.

He said the remittance of PhilHealth’s unused funds was done in accordance with a direct mandate from Congress while he was serving as finance secretary.

“We remain confident that the facts and the law are clear, and that the appropriate institutions will evaluate any allegations fairly and objectively,” Recto said.

“I will not get distracted by political noise,” he added, noting that improving government performance and services remains his priority.

The complaints stemmed from the implementation of a provision in the 2024 General Appropriations Act requiring government-owned and -controlled corporations to remit excess funds to the Treasury for unprogrammed appropriations.

At the time, the Department of Finance, then headed by Recto, issued a circular ordering PhilHealth to transfer its excess funds in tranches.

The complainants argued that PhilHealth’s reserve funds should not have been remitted and that the transfer allegedly caused injury to the public by reducing resources for health services and benefits.

They also claimed that the amount involved exceeded the threshold for plunder under existing law and alleged that the funds were diverted from their intended purpose.

PhilHealth had already transferred P60 billion out of its P89.9 billion in excess funds when the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order following petitions from health groups.