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Supreme Court to DOF: ‘That Was Robbery, Not Budgeting.’ DOF to Filipinos: ‘Hold Still, We’re Not Done Yet

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Louis ‘Barok’ Biraogo

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Supreme Court to DOF: ‘That Was Robbery, Not Budgeting.’ DOF to Filipinos: ‘Hold Still, We’re Not Done Yet
Ralph Recto’s Masterclass in Turning Your Dialysis Money into Someone Else’s Floodwall—and Getting Promoted for It

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — December 7, 2025

The Biggest Legal Stick-Up Since DAP and PDAF Got Married and Had a Baby Named Flood Control

MGA ka-kweba, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, imagine this: a bank manager walks into the vault, loads P167 billion of your health insurance and bank-deposit insurance money into a wheelbarrow marked “flood control,” and strolls out whistling “Bahay Kubo” remixed in minor key. When the Supreme Court later rules the wheelbarrow had no wheels (because the law that authorized it was unconstitutional), the same manager shrugs and says, “Congress told me to do it, bro. Good faith lang.”

Welcome to the Philippines, 2025 edition, where “good faith” apparently means “I read the Constitution the way a drunk reads a karaoke screen – enthusiastically, but missing every other word.”

“Supreme Court says ‘STOP’; Congress hears ‘SHOP’.”

The Crime Scene: From PhilHealth Vault Straight to the Pothole-Filling Party

2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA): Congress sneaks in a cute little rider (Special Provision 1(d) under Unprogrammed Appropriations) saying Government-Owned or Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) “excess funds” can be swept back to the Treasury.

Department of Finance (DOF) Circular 003-2024, signed by then-Finance Secretary Ralph Recto: “Remit now, ask questions never.”

Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) hands over roughly P60 billion. Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) coughs up P107 billion. Total: P167 billion.

Bureau of the Treasury receives, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) releases Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs), money flows to flood-control projects.

Supreme Court (2025): “That rider is unconstitutional. It’s a non-germane provision that effectively repeals Section 11 of the Universal Health Care Act by stealth. Return the money. Case closed.”

Translation: the legal wheelbarrow was junked by the highest court in the land. Everything that rolled on it was, is, and forever shall be illegal.

“We Just Followed Congress” – The Defense So Weak It Needs Life Support

Recto’s soundbite: “We only followed instructions in the GAA.”

Barok’s translation: “The dog ate my homework, Your Honor, and the dog was Congress.”

Newsflash: the Supreme Court already spanked that argument into next year. When Congress sticks an unconstitutional rider in the budget, the Executive does not get a “get-out-of-jail-free” card for implementing it. The President (and definitely not a mere Cabinet secretary) can only realign actual savings, not raid statutorily protected trust funds. Article VI, Section 25(5) of the Constitution is not a suggestion; it’s the iron gate Congress and the DOF just rammed with a stolen truck.

Crime #1: Technical Malversation – The Charge That Hits Like a Wrecking Ball

Article 220, Revised Penal Code:

“Any public officer who shall apply any public fund or property under his administration to any public use other than that for which such fund or property was appropriated by law or ordinance shall be guilty…”

Elements? Check, check, check, and checkmate.

  1. Public officer? Recto was DOF Secretary.
  2. Funds under his administration? He signed the circular that triggered the transfer.
  3. Applied to a different public use? Flood control instead of health benefits and deposit insurance.
  4. The original appropriation (UHC Act, PDIC charter) was mandatory and exclusive? Supreme Court says yes.

This is mala prohibita – intent is irrelevant. Personal pocketting is irrelevant. Good faith is irrelevant. All you need is the diversion, and the Supreme Court just gift-wrapped the illegality with a unanimous bow.

Crime #2: Plunder – The Nuclear Warhead That Might Still Explode

Carpio floated it. Is it a long shot? Yes. Is it impossible? Not quite.

Republic Act No. 7080 (Anti-Plunder Act) punishes a “combination or series” of overt criminal acts (including “raid on the public treasury”) that amass at least P50 million in ill-gotten wealth.

The “series” part is easy: multiple tranches from PDIC, separate remittance from PhilHealth, all under one circular.

The hard part is proving personal enrichment. Unless prosecutors find kickbacks flowing to private pockets (and so far, none have surfaced), plunder will probably crash on the “ill-gotten wealth” element.

Verdict: keep it in the chamber as a threat, but technical malversation is the bullet that actually fires straight.

The “Good Faith” Magic Cloak – Now Officially Made of Wet Tissue Paper

Recto’s lawyers will wave opinions from Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG), and even a pre-audit thumbs-up from Commission of Audit (COA). Cute.

Tell it to the Supreme Court that already declared the entire scheme unconstitutional. Tell it to the Sandiganbayan justices who have convicted officials for “good faith” reliance on opinions that later turned out to be garbage.

Prosecution Roadmap – From Complaint to Conviction in Five Easy Blood-Pressure-Raising Steps

  1. Ombudsman Complaint (filed tomorrow, please) Crime: Technical Malversation (Art. 220, RPC) Respondents: Ralph Recto + every signatory of DOF Circular 003-2024 + National Treasurer + DBM officials who issued the SAROs. Probable cause? The Supreme Court decision alone is a screaming neon sign.
  2. Parallel Administrative Case (Republic Act No. 6713) Penalty menu: dismissal, perpetual disqualification, forfeiture of retirement benefits.
  3. Civil Forfeiture / Restitution Make the liable officials personally reimburse PhilHealth and PDIC.

Fallout: The Gift Basket of Chaos No One Asked For

  • Fiscal: P167 billion hole in Unprogrammed Appropriations.
  • Political: Recto’s reputation as the “decent technocrat” is now permanently hyphenated: Ralph “P167-B” Recto.
  • Institutional: Every Filipino now knows their PhilHealth contributions can be “reallocated” the moment Congress feels creative.

Final Indictment and Non-Negotiable Demands

  • Ralph Recto, your legacy as a fiscal wizard is now a smoking crater. Resign, or be removed.
  • Congress, confess your rider sin and never do it again.
  • Mr. President, you already ‘fired’ one ES amid the flood mess—now boot your new one (Recto, the original heist maestro) or own the sequel. Promoting the accused isn’t reform; it’s a plot twist nobody asked for.
  • To the Office of the Ombudsman: probable cause is not hiding; it’s doing cartwheels in the Supreme Court decision. File the cases. Now.
  • To the Filipino people: demand the publication of every remittance slip, every SARO, every legal opinion. Sunlight is still the best disinfectant, even when the stench is P167 billion strong.

Because if this robbery goes unpunished, the next one will be P500 billion, and they’ll call it “climate resilience.”

See you in Sandiganbayan. Bring popcorn, handcuffs, and a refund check.

–Barok

Key Citations

Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo

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