Executive Secretary Ralph G. Recto has slammed a newly filed complaint against him as a "nuisance and a harassment case," citing Supreme Court opinions that cleared him of any criminal liability for transferring PhilHealth funds in accordance with the 2024 budget law.

In a statement issued on May 25, 2026, Recto said the case "should not be tossed aside gently" but "should be thrown out with great force."

He stressed that the transfer was mandated by law under the General Appropriations Act of 2024, saying "Inutusan ng Kongreso ang Department of Finance Secretary." (Congress ordered the Department of Finance Secretary.)

Recto cited several Supreme Court justices who, in their separate opinions, found that he could not be held criminally liable for implementing the law.

Associate Justice Raul B. Villanueva said, "To hold Secretary Recto liable in any way whatsoever is like punishing him for simply doing his job. If he did not comply with the valid dictates of Special Provision 1 (d), then he may possibly become culpable of violating the law, which would have made his situation even worse."

Associate Justice Ricardo R. Rosario opined that "no liability for technical malversation may attach," noting that officials "carried out the statutory commands in good faith, pursuant to a law then presumed valid, and without any intention to divert funds contrary to legislative will."

Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda added that the DOF Secretary's actions were "strictly ministerial" and were executed pursuant to the "explicit and mandatory language" of the provision of the 2024 GAA, characterized by "institutional good faith and due diligence."

Associate Justice Samuel H. Gaerlan said that "Secretary Recto was only fulfilling his legal duty in issuing DOF Circular No. 003 2024."

Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez, for his part, opined that petitioners "failed to substantiate their claim that the acts of the Secretary of Finance constitute plunder and/or technical malversation," adding that "there was no allegation, much less proof, that the funds were personally amassed or acquired by the Secretary of Finance or any of the public respondents."

The Supreme Court, in its press release dated December 5, 2025, also noted that "no criminal liability can attach to the Finance Secretary, who they found to have acted in good faith in implementing Special Provision 1(d)."

Recto further reported that PHP 60 billion has already been returned to PhilHealth's coffers.

The Executive Secretary described the complaint as a harassment case filed by "a person masquerading as a health reformer, a perennial applicant for Health offices across several presidencies, but always rejected despite his aggressive self-promotion." He alleged that the complainant is "auditioning for a post in the next administration, using a platform of lies."

Recto called the claim that he financially benefited from the PhilHealth funds "an outright falsehood" and "libelous." He maintained that he "was not and never in a position to have been able to touch a single centavo" of the funds, and rejected the accusation of self-enrichment as having "no iota of truth."

He ended his statement by raising the question of "who is financing this case, in a bid to divert the public attention to the scam that that mastermind had perpetrated."