A new graft and corruption complaint was filed against Department of Health Secretary Ted Herbosa to the Office of Ombudsman for his alleged misuse of P1.4 billion worth of medication this Tuesday.
The complaint alleges that Herbosa along with 16 other health officials also figured themselves in cases of serious dishonesty, grave misconduct, and conduct prejudicial to public service on top of the corruption claims.
Furthermore, petitioners from the group that called themselves as the “Concerned Department of Health Personnel” claimed that various medicines and vaccines were not properly distributed.
Due to supposed negligence on behalf of the respondents, the medication was left rotting at warehouses.
“This collective failure to exercise the ‘diligence of a good father of a family’ constitutes a criminal dereliction of duty and a direct violation of the public trust,” they said.
The complainants also alleged that the DOH ordered for the prompt disposal of the expiring medications in an effort to prevent media scrutiny.
As part of its ongoing investigation, the group requested for the Ombudsman to place the names it cited in the complaint on a preventive suspension to avoid potential tampering of evidence.
Various graft complaints have been previously filed against Herbosa, with the most recent case being a supposed rigging of a P1.8 billion mobile care facility filed last March 10.
The DOH Secretary has yet to submit a formal reply to the allegations.