A recent Commission on Audit (COA) opinion is proof that there is no corruption or large-scale collusion to defraud the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), its president and chief executive officer Ricardo Morales said Monday.
"Recently, we got an opinion from the COA telling us that they could not find, they could not substantiate this (reported) P154-billion loss in the financial statements submitted by PhilHealth from 2013 to 2017. In effect, it's not true that P154 billion is missing," Morales said.
This developed as Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque denied allegations he was interested in Morales' post, saying it would be a “demotion” on his part.
READ: Morales, Roque swap insults
Roque and Morales had traded barbs last week over the Philhealth chief's call to delay the full implementation of the Universal Healthcare Law (UHC), as the government could not collect enough revenue amid the pandemic.
Roque, who co-authored the UHC
when he was still a lawmaker, said Philhealth is losing money due to corruption, and that halting the implementation of the UHC is unlawful.
Before returning as Duterte’s spokesman, Roque also filed in February a graft complaint against PhilHealth officials for their alleged inaction on a scam involving the issuance of fake premium receipts to overseas Filipino workers.
Meanwhile, Roque said nobody wants the position of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who is under investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman due to his alleged poor handling of the country's coronavirus crisis.
READ: Palace quizzes PhilHealth on ‘pricey’ test kits; P8-billion loss bared
The spokesman said he has no information on whether individuals are eyeing the top post of the Department of Health, since it is now the most difficult government position because of the COVID-19 crisis.
During a virtual briefing on Monday, Morales responded to corruption allegations made against him and officials of PhilHealth. He said during the Laging Handa briefing the government firm's issues were already present before he took office.
"We have inefficiencies, wrong filing of documents, forms that were mistakenly filled up, but no syndicate or group of people colluding to defraud the corporation at that scale," added the former Army general.
"With the volume of transactions we make, there will be inefficiencies, but I can assure you there is no group of people colluding with each other to defraud PhilHealth in this scale reported," he said, referring to news reports first published last year.
Morales was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to PhilHealth in June 2019.
READ: Plan to defer UHC Act rejected
But last week, Roque said he would reveal “new anomalies” in PhilHealth, slamming the leadership for their supposed failure to go after corrupt officials.
In reaction, Morales said Roque is welcome to find a replacement for him if he thinks the current leadership cannot implement the Universal Health Care Law.
Under the UHC, all Filipino citizens are automatically enrolled into the National Health Insurance Program controlled financially by Philhealth — those who have the capacity to pay as direct contributors, and the indigents and senior citizens as indirect contributors and as sponsored by the government.
READ: Gordon: Duque critics after his post
On Saturday, Roque told Morales in a Palace briefing to be careful with his words and to just implement the law.
Morales said he has no issues with Roque, as the retired military general downplayed their exchange through the media.
"Well, Secretary Roque and I, we all serve the same boss — the Filipino and the President. Let's say we're on a different frequency, but pointing at the same direction," he added.
As for Duque, Roque said: “I don’t have any idea that somebody is aspiring to be Secretary of Health at this time of pandemic. No matter how ambitious you are, it’s really a difficult job right now.”
The spokesman was responding to Sen. Richard Gordon’s assertion that some people are interested to take the place of Duque.
Th DOH secretary and other health officials are facing an investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman for alleged irregularities in the agency’s COVID-19 response.
Under investigation are the purchase of COVID-19 test kits, delayed procurement of personal protective equipment and other medical gears for healthcare workers, alleged lapses that led to the death of medical workers, and the rising number of deaths and infections involving medical frontliners.