Ex-PhilHealth chief named DOH asec

Former Philippine Health Insurance Corp. acting president Roy Ferrer has been appointed assistant secretary at the Department of Health.

Ferrer resigned from PhilHealth in June 2019 following the controversies hounding the state insurance firm involving the alleged financing of bogus dialysis treatment for patients who were already died.

The President, however, cleared Ferrer of any wrongdoing, saying he did not have the slightest doubt on his “integrity and honesty.”

The list of new appointees includes Health department spokesman Eric Domingo who was appointed Food and Drug Administration director-general after serving as an officer in charge since May 2019 and lawyer Lorna Kapunan who was named Cultural Center of the Philippines board member.

Meanwhile, former IBC-13 president and chief executive Katherine Chloe de Castro, the daughter of former vice president and broadcaster Noli de Castro, has been named a member of PTV-4’s board, according to a list of appointments released by the Palace on Monday.

Before her appointment, De Castro supported Duterte’s national campaign in 2016 and served as undersecretary of the Department of Tourism. She was involved in a series of controversies that led to her resignation.

De Castro obtained her Communication Arts degree from Miriam College and started her broadcasting career as a field reporter of ABS-CBN before hosting her own travel and business magazine show in the network.