ONE FAULT RESIGNED public works secretary Manuel ‘Manny’ Bonoan has been accused of is being associated with a private contractor and it appears the secretary of health has done something similar.
And from ut looks, health secretary Teodoro Herbosa is doing the same this, for which ‘concerned’ employees from the Department of Health (DOH) called on the Ombudsman to probe Herbosa over his alleged ‘close ties’ with a drug firm.
Recently, some personnel from the DOH asked the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate health c
Sec. Teodoro ‘Ted’ Herbosa for possible violations of anti-graft and procurement laws over his alleged ‘closeness’ with health contractor Zuellig Pharma Corporation.
In an 11-page complaint filed before the Ombudsman, the personnel, referring themselves as concerned DoH employees, accused Herbosa of “continuously fraternizing” with Zuellig despite the pharma firm’s active participation in the agency’s bidding and procurement activities.
To support the veracity of the complaint, the complainants disclosed that Herbosa had been attending company-sponsored trips, social gatherings and out-of-town activities and thus pointed out that while the DOH chief’s participation may considered as an act of hospitality toward the contractor, the events occurred at a time when the company “had an active ongoing procurement interest with his office.”
The complainants cited some of the procurement that were made included the acquisition of inactivated polio vaccine amounting to ₱674 million and the procurement of Retuximab worth ₱122.9 million, both of which are under “ongoing protests” based on the Commission on Audit (CoA)’s observation memorandum in 2025.
Zuellig’s subsidiaries, Metro Drug Incorporated and Intepharma Holdings and Management Corporation, also lodged a protest, but in relation to the procurement of chick embryo cell rabies vaccine amounting to ₱24.9 million.
“Sec. Herbosa’s fraternizing with the Zuellig group creates a dangerous environment where decisions can be influenced behind the scenes and where a single contractor is granted privileged access that no other bidder enjoys,” the concerned DOH employees noted.
They likewise included in their complaint several screenshots showing Herbosa’s supposed close relationship with the company, including a Facebook post by Zuellig Family Foundation showing the health secretary’s participation in one of its consultative forums in 2023, congratulating his confirmation as health secretary, also in 2023, his attendance to the company’s forum in Thailand last February and the company executives’ visit to his office.
“(It appears that) Herbosa’s close relationship with the company constitutes violations of the anti-graft law, the government procurement law and the code of conduct for officials and employees (so we are) ask(ing) the Ombudsman to investigate (him) for possible violations,” the employees asserted.
Aside from an investigation, the complainants also asked the Ombudsman to place Herbosa under preventive suspension and impose possible administrative penalties.
The Philippine Insider through this writer has reached out to Herbosa for his side of the issue but he has not responded to our queries as of press time.