The Office of the President will conduct its own investigation into allegations of corruption that continue to hound the state insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), a Palace spokesman said Friday.
READ: Philhealth chief: COA can’t find graft
“We listened to all the complaints and the conclusion was to conduct a deeper investigation into the alleged irregularities,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said in Filipino on GMA-7’s Unang Hirit program.
This developed following reports that at least one official resigned over the corruption allegations after a heated argument during PhilHealth’s executive meeting.
Roque confirmed that the Palace has received the resignation of Thorsson Montes Keith, the anti-legal fraud officer of the agency, in which he cites “widespread corruption” at PhilHealth.
READ: Palace quizzes PhilHealth on ‘pricey’ test kits; P8-billion loss bared
Roque encouraged Keith to cooperate with Duterte’s office by substantiating claims about the supposedly rampant corruption within the state insurance agency.
“Now that there is a formal investigation, I am encouraging him to cooperate to once and for all stop the corruption in PhilHealth,” he said.
Roque has repeatedly expressed disappointment over the alleged failure of PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Ricardo Morales to address the supposed irregularities plaguing the state insurer.
READ: Duterte sacks PhilHealth execs
In his latest remarks, he said he believed that some of PhilHealth’s top officials are involved in corrupt activities.
“My conclusion is there is really a syndicate there and top career executives of PhilHeath are part of it. But I’m not saying that all of them are involved,” Roque said.
Earlier reports said three PhilHealth officials had resigned over the corruption allegations, but the agency on Friday said head executive assistant Etrobal Laborte had resigned in mid-July to “go back to taking his PhD.”
PhilHealth also said corporate legal counsel Roberto Labe Jr. “vehemently denied” reports about his supposed resignation.
The Senate, meanwhile, said it would investigate almost P1 billion worth of questionable transactions, including an overprice of P98 million that triggered a shouting match in a recent virtual conference between Morales and some board members.
Senator Panfilo Lacson said he is now drafting a resolution calling for a Senate Committee of the Whole to launch an inquiry into the unabated corruption and mismanagement of PhilHealth funds. He said Senate President Vicente Sotto III had informed him the inquiry would be one of top items on the Senate’s agenda after session resumes on Monday.
“That such corruption occurred amid the COVID-19 crisis makes it more disgusting and abominable,” Lacson said.
“The Senate has to act on the matter immediately as part of its oversight mandate,” he added.
READ: Morales, Roque swap insults
Senate health committee chairperson Senator Christopher Go called on PhilHealth officers to “shape up or ship out.”
“Enough is enough. I call on the PhilHealth leadership to put a stop to these… anomalies,” Go said.
Senator Sonny Angara said the Commission on Audit should do a special audit of the state insurance company.
He said the Senate can also revive its inquiry in aid of legislation from a year ago on the finances of PhilHealth.
“A big chunk of taxpayer money goes to Philhealth every year to be directed for the people’s health and the implementation of Universal Health Care. As it is funds are hardly sufficient and corruption would make this worse and is really criminal,” Angara said.
Senator Joel Villanueva added: “We cannot ignore the stench of corruption especially during the pandemic. If the allegations are true, this is an unconscionable betrayal of the public trust. I support any move to investigate Philhealth.”
Senator Aquilino Pimentel III also expressed his support to a Senate probe, saying that he wants to know why PhilHealth funds are depleted so fast.
“And why are there at the same time so many complaints from hospitals that they are not being reimbursed promptly? And many more questions,” said Pimentel.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said allegations of widespread corruption within the health insurance agency cannot be swept under the rug.
“The high degree of corruption within PhilHealth must be stopped. It has reached a level akin to a state of emergency,” Drilon said.
“The administration cannot just sweep it in under the rug. This should be immediately investigated,” he said, adding that the Senate should prioritize the investigation when it resumes session next week.
Drilon said that he is no longer surprised by the allegations given the history of PhilHealth, citing the scandals of “ghost dialysis patients” and “ghost cataract patients.”
Senator Francis Pangilinan said Keith’s exposé of corruption within PhilHealth should spur the government to immediately fire, charge with plunder and jail all those involved in anomalies.
In his resignation letter, Keith said he opposed making overseas Filipino workers pay for their PhilHealth contributions.
“I believe there is a widespread corruption in PhilHealth,” Keith said.
The Department of Health, meanwhile, assured the public that it would look into the allegations of corruption in PhilHealth.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III was waiting for a report from PhilHealth.
“We will wait for PhilHealth to issue their statement,” she said.
After a copy of Keith’s resignation letter surfaced on Thursday night, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that PhilHealth officials are being investigated for the alleged overpriced purchase of an IT system worth over P2 billion.
Morales denied the allegations of corruption, saying Keith was on a vendetta after being refused a promotion.
PhilHealth spokesperson Gigi Domingo, meanwhile, said that their office has yet to officially receive Keith’s resignation letter.