Manila Bulletin
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'Sobra sa ingay': Ranking solons defend Recto amid 'noise' from Leachon
Philippines
National
'Sobra sa ingay': Ranking solons defend Recto amid 'noise' from Leachon
'Sobra sa ingay': Ranking solons defend Recto amid 'noise' from Leachon
Published May 28, 2026 03:06 pm
At A Glance
- House leaders defend Executive Secretary Ralph Recto against Dr. Tony Leachon's plunder and malversation complaints, saying he only implemented provisions authorized under the General Appropriations Act.
- Reps. Janette Garin, Zia Alonto Adiong, Jude Acidre, and Paolo Ortega V criticize Leachon for politicizing the issue, misleading the public about reserve funds, and diverting attention from real accountability matters.
- They suggested Leachon's attacks were tied to political frustrations and his ambition to be health secretary, portraying his actions as clear politicking disguised as public advocacy.
Dr. Tony Leachon (Facebook)
Ranking members of the House of Representatives have come out to defend Executive Secretary Ralph Recto from what they described as political clatter coming from health reform advocate Dr. Tony Leachon.
Criticizing Leachon were Deputy Speakers Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin and La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V; Assistant Majority Leader Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong; and Committee on Higher and Technical Education chaiman, Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre.
Leachon, a former COVID-19 task force adviser, recently filed plunder and malversation complaints against Recto and other officials.
For the House leaders, Leachon--in a rather embarrassing manner--has been politicizing a budget issue and misleading the public about how government reserve funds work.
The complaints involved the transfer of about P60 billion in unused Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) reserve funds and P107 billion from the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) to the national treasury under a special provision of the 2024 General Appropriations Act.
Garin said Leachon was attacking officials for carrying out a mechanism that was authorized by Congress itself.
“Delikado ang kaunting kaalaman kapag ginagamit para magkunwaring eksperto sa budget process (A little knowledge becomes dangerous when used to pose as an expert in the budget process.)
“Secretary Ralph Recto merely implemented what was clearly authorized under the General Appropriations Act. Kung talagang naniniwala si Dr. Leachon na ilegal ito, bakit hindi niya kasuhan ang buong Kongreso at Senado na nagpasa ng batas?” she added.
(If Dr. Leachon truly believes this is illegal, why doesn’t he sue the entire Congress and Senate that passed the law?)
Garin, a former Department of Health (DOH) secretary, also believed that forces may be encouraging Leachon to repeatedly attack Recto. Thus, she challenged Dr. Leachon to reveal who is really pushing him "to keep throwing reckless accusations against the Executive Secretary".
For Adiong, Leachon seemed more interested in creating controversy than discussing real accountability issues. “Parang pilit na pilit niyang ilihis ang usapan mula sa mga totoong issue ng pananagutan (He seems to be forcing the discussion away from the real issues of accountability)."
“If accountability is truly his advocacy, then he should apply the same standard to everyone and not only when it fits a political narrative,” noted Adiong.
Acidre had even harsher words for Leachon, whom he said displayed a poor understanding of how reserve funds actually work.
“Kulang sa kaalaman sa proseso pero sobra sa pag-iingay (Lacking knowledge of the process but excessive in noise)," the party-list solon said.
“He keeps repeating that the funds were ‘unused,’ when that is precisely why they are called reserve funds. They are not meant to be spent recklessly or automatically exhausted,” he added.
Acidre said Leachon was misleading the public by portraying reserve funds as abandoned money that government officials simply grabbed for themselves. “That is a gross distortion of how fiscal management works."
Leachon's 'frustrations' cited
Ortega, for his part, claims that Leachon is simply using Recto and the issue for politics.
“Naiintindihan naman natin na natalo noong nakaraang eleksyon ang kanyang anak at ilang kamag-anak. Pero huwag naman sanang gawing political weapon ang mga reklamong kulang sa basehan,” Ortega said.
(We understand that his child and some relatives lost in the last election. But complaints lacking basis should not be used as political weapons.)
“Ang problema rito, pinagmumukhang public advocacy ang malinaw na pamumulitika (The problem here is that clear politicking is being made to look like public advocacy)," he added.
Garin suggested that Leachon’s attacks may also be tied to his long-standing ambition to become health secretary.
“Bawat administrasyon, laging nagpapakitang-gilas si Dr. Leachon para mapansin bilang posibleng secretary of health (Every administration, Dr. Leachon always tries to show off to be noticed as a possible Secretary of Health)," she said.
“Alam naman niyang hindi siya kinokonsidera ng kasalukuyang search committee kaya mukhang napaaga lang ang kanyang pagpupuwesto (He knows he is not being considered by the current search committee, so it seems he just prematurely positioned himself)," added Garin.