Herbosa Faces Raps Over P1.29-B Loan to Unicef

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa is facing criminal charges over P1.29 billion in alleged unliquidated funds transferred in 2024 to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to procure vaccines and essential drugs.

- By DAPHNE GALVEZ

Filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, the complaint filed by "concerned employees" of the Department of Health claimed that the DOH released a cash advance of P1.29 billion to UNICEF from February to July 2024.

Despite the unliquidated funds, Herbosa allegedly initiated a new procurement request to purchase vaccines from UNICEF for an additional P524 million.

The complainants also claimed that Herbosa allowed the liquidation deadline to lapse without rendering any settlement of accounts.

Cash advances were mis-declared as advances to contractors, they said, noting that UNICEF is not a contractor, but a third-party international organization.

These should have been logged as "due from NGO/CSOs," they added.

Herbosa did not make a "mere clerical error" in misrepresenting the cash advances as he "deliberately misclassified" them to mislead auditors and other regulatory bodies, they alleged.