Two whistleblowers in the “ghost-claim” anomaly at the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. have been arrested after losing the benefit of the government’s Witness Protection Program, their lawyer said Friday.
Former Malacañang spokesman Harry Roque said Edwin Roberto and Leizel de Leon, former employees of WellMed Dialysis Center, lost the benefit of the WPP after the Regional Trial Court dismissed the case against its officials for lack of jurisdiction.
The case was then refiled before the Metropolitan Trial Court.
Roque said the court had set P610,000 bail each for his clients Roberto and De Leon.
“No WPP for MeTc [Metropolitan Trial Court],” Roque said, lamenting that a hearing was set to discharge them as state witnesses.
“It’s really a travesty of justice intended to silence them. We will not allow that.”
Roque also took a swipe at PhilHealth’s legal department over the arrest of Roberto and De Leon, the whistleblowers in the alleged dialysis scam at PhilHealth.
“I just don’t know if this [action of PhilHealth] is just being nonsense or is deliberately done [to weaken the case],” he said.
He slammed PhilHealth for filing an estafa case against the whistleblowers instead of filing a suit of malversation of public funds against them.
“Those who have been detained are the ones helping to cleanse PhilHealth,” he said.
“No private fund is involved here. Why file estafa? If there is corruption [about public funds], then it is malversation.
“I can’t help but think that the [estafa] case was filed so that no [PhilHealth] officials would be held liable.”
The testimonies of the two WellMed employees led to the discovery of the anomalies at PhilHealth.
The National Bureau of Investigation conducted its probe and filed a case before the Justice department.
It has also arrested WellMed owner Bryan Sy, but he was later released after posting a P72,000 bail before the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court. With Rio N. Araja.
