HEALTH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa on Sunday, February 1, 2026, brushed aside corruption allegations made by radio broadcaster and newspaper columnist Ramon Tulfo.
In a social media post, Herbosa said he would rather focus on his job and on meeting the goals he set when he assumed office as Department of Health (DOH) secretary.
“I will continue to do the work as Secretary of Health, working very hard to strengthen the health system through Zero Balance Billing, BUCAS Centers, PuroKalusugan, and better PhilHealth benefits that ordinary people will feel,” Herbosa said.
“DOH comes closer to achieving our eight priority public health outcomes,” he added.
The health chief said all the claims made by Tulfo are false.
Herbosa said there is no truth to Tulfo’s claim that he received P60 million from CWS party-list Representative Edwin Gardiola.
“I feel sad for Ramon Tulfo as these allegations are all untrue and baseless. He has maligned me with such fake stories since I was an undersecretary. Beware of fake news. Verify and confirm with facts,” Herbosa said.
“He wrote a story that a supplier went to my office and pointed a gun at me—never happened. He also said a supplier gifted me an SUV. I already owned an SUV, which I used as a practicing surgeon prior to my stint at DOH,” he added.
In his post, Tulfo alleged that Herbosa received P60 million from Gardiola, supposedly after boxes of cash were sent to the health secretary’s house and received by household service workers.
Tulfo claimed the money was in exchange for Gardiola winning public bidding contracts for hospital construction. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)