A group claiming to be concerned employees of the Department of Health (DOH) has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa for alleged irregularities in the handling of agency funds, particularly procurement contracts.
In a seven-page letter addressed to Acting Ombudsman Mariflor Punzalan-Castillo, the complainants sought an inquiry into the P1.296 billion cash advance to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released from February to July 2024, which reportedly remains unliquidated and an additional P524.926 million requested by the DOH Secretary for the procurement of vaccines.
The letter was stamped “Tinanggap” (Received) on August 11, 2025.
The group noted that the Commission on Audit Circular No. 2012-001 and Department Memorandum No. 2023-0369 prohibit the release of a new cash advance unless the previous one has been fully liquidated.
“Notwithstanding failure to liquidate previous cash advances, Secretary Herbosa requested an exemption from the additional P524,926,193.27 procurement to proceed,” it said.
Why Herbosa alone is being targeted for an investigation was not clarified in the letter-complaint.
Among the allegations against the Health chief were malversation of public funds, falsification of public documents, violations of the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), and violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019).
Citing Article 218 of the Revised Penal Code, the complainants said Herbosa, as an accountable public officer, had until July 30, 2024 to render an accounting of the funds transferred to UNICEF or two months upon delivery of items but failed to do so.
Curiously, in the same letter, the delivery dates were set down as “February, March, and June 2024.” June was only a month away from July 30, 2024.
“Secretary Herbosa allowed this statutory deadline to lapse without rendering any settlement of accounts. Worse, instead of fulfilling his duty, Secretary Herbosa sought to procure additional vaccines using more public funds without accounting for the first P1.3 billion,” the complainants said.
In addition, they alleged that the cash advances were misdeclared as “Advances to Contractors” which the group said is a sufficient basis for a falsification case.
They quoted the COA audit report that declared the “advances to contractors” as improperly booked since the proper account should have been “Due from non-government organizations/civil society organizations.”
Rather than a mere mistake in classification of an expenditure, the group said it was an “act of deliberately misclassifying a government transaction,” supposedly to mislead auditors and the public.
Herbosa was also accused of failure to secure prior approval from the Office of the President or the COA for the budget release of an additional P524,926,193.47 for vaccines from UNICEF.
“Sec. Herbosa effectively incurred an international obligation on behalf of the Republic of the Philippines without legal authority,” the group said.
This act, they said, amounts to undue injury inflicted on the government, which is penalized under Section 3 (g) of RA 3019.
“We at the Department of Health exist to serve the Filipino people – not to protect the interests of a few. We submit this complaint anonymously, out of concern for retaliation, but with a firm sense of duty to uphold the public trust,” the group added.
