Malacañang on Friday assured the public that the government would not slow down on its efforts to cleanse state insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corp. of corruption.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque gave the assurance after the hashtag #wag_kalimutan_yung_binulsang_15billion_sa_philhealth_challenge went viral on Facebook and Twitter.
“There is no let-up in our drive to make erring officials of the Philippine Health Corp. accountable for their alleged misdeeds,” Roque said in a statement.
He said the Department of Justice, through its Task Force PhilHealth, is finalizing the complaints against erring officials for filing.
Roque further noted that composite teams tasked to look into but not limited to the PhilHealth Legal Sector are continuing their investigation.
“Zero tolerance against corruption is not just a catchphrase but a serious matter in the current administration,” he said.
Earlier, resigned PhilHealth anti-fraud legal officer Thorsson Montes Keith claimed that about P15 billion of the agency’s funds have been allegedly pocketed by PhilHealth officials.
Last week, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation of Task Force PhilHealth to file criminal and administrative charges against PhilHealth officials.
Duterte has repeatedly vowed to use his remaining years in office in cleaning PhilHealth and punishing officials involved in illicit activities.
He likewise recently ordered newly-appointed PhilHealth president Dante Gierran to rid the state-run agency of corruption by December, the Palace said Thursday.
“The President wants to clean up PhilHealth, and that is why the deadline [was] given to Attorney Gierran…. File all the cases that need to be filed, suspend, terminate, whatever you need to do in order to cleanse the ranks of PhilHealth,” Roque said.
Gierran, a former director of the National Bureau of Investigation, had vowed to reduce corruption in PhilHealth within two years.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the President had wanted PhilHealth abolished or privatized, but agreed to wait a few months to see how Gierran would perform.
Sotto said he told the President that he would be filing a bill making the secretary of Finance instead of the Health secretary the chairman of the board.
“He agreed to my proposal,” Sotto said. “I explained that PhilHealth is an insurance corporation, not a health entity.”
Senator Christopher Go said the President and legislative leaders also looked at lengthening prison terms for certain crimes during their meeting on Wednesday.
Sotto said the President also wanted to reduce red tape further by amending the Ease of Doing Business Law.
Sotto said he promised to send the President first a copy of a bill that Congress would come up with in coordination with the House of Representatives before filing.
The Universal Health Care and PhilHealth law, he said, was also taken up during the meeting.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, meanwhile, said the task force looking into corruption in PhilHealth has not yet cleared Duque and other board members.
Guevarra also expressed support to the suggestion of a change in leadership in the state-owned health insurer.
Guevarra said the DOJ-led task force did not see sufficient evidence to pin down Duque for corruption and wrongdoing when it submitted its preliminary findings to the President Monday.
However, the DOJ chief said they are not yet discounting the liability of Duque and other members of the board as they dig deeper into the widespread irregularities at PhilHealth.
In its preliminary report to the President, the Task Force PhilHealth found anomalies in the agency’s interim reimbursement mechanism, procurement of ICT equipment, and its policy on accountability.
Two composite teams are still investigating PhilHealth’s legal and IT sectors, which may likely result in more officials being recommended for prosecution.
Sotto earlier expressed surprise that Duque was not among those recommended by the task force to be charged in connection with the PhilHealth fund mess.
The Senate and House of Representatives conducted separate investigations into alleged anomalies at PhilHealth.
When asked about differences in the findings of the task force and of the Senate, Guevarra said that it was possible that the two bodies received different pieces of evidence and evaluated these differently.
However, Guevarra said the DOJ would make sure that the complaints it will file against those liable are supported with evidence.
Guevarra also supported the proposal to reorganize the leadership structure of PhilHealth because he believes that the Health secretary might have “spread himself too thinly” across his many responsibilities.
“In the case of PhilHealth, it was possible that the proper attention due to PhilHealth might not have been given precisely because the Secretary of Health has been spread too thinly,” Guevarra said.
“But that’s not really an excuse,” he added. “It’s a pity because PhilHealth is a very important agency or corporation of the government and I believe that more attention, especially in the light of so many
anomalies or irregularities being reported, should have been given by the secretary and the members of the board.
Guevarra also said he is looking at creating a third composite team to investigate anomalies in connection with PhilHealth’s finances.
In a message to reporters, Guevarra said this composite team would focus on PhilHealth’s financial management and issues like window dressing of financial statements.
Two composite teams have already been formed by Task Force PhilHealth to tackle issues arising from the firm’s IT (information technology system and its legal sector.