Senate Minority Franklin Drilon on Wednesday said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who chairs the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), should appear before the Senate investigation on allegations of widespread corruption in the state-owned health insurance agency.
READ: Vergeire: Duque to support calls for PhilHealth execs to go on leave
Drilon said the release of some P30 billion through PhilHealth’s Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) to hospitals treating COVID-19 cases, was supposed to have been covered by a board resolution.
“Although there were questions raised as to when the approval came, certainly Secretary Duque would have to explain to the Senate how he conducted himself and whether or not due diligence was exercised as chairman of PhilHealth,” Drilon said.
READ: ‘Mafia’ within PhilHealth confirmed
Drilon said senators need to know Duque’s role in approving the P30 billion IRM.
The senator made clear, however, that there was no evidence to link Duque or PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales to any of the irregularities uncovered at PhilHealth.
READ: Senators press Morales over release of PhilHealth funds vs. COVID
But Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said Duque can be held accountable based on command responsibility. He said Duque was supposed to attend last Tuesday’s hearing, but he was in Davao.
Nonetheless, he said Duque promised to attend the Senate hearing on the same issue on Tuesday next week after being invited by Senate President Vicente Sotto III.
Drilon said it seemed Morales was siding with one of two factions within PhilHealth, which he said reflected poorly on his leadership.
During Tuesday’s Senate investigation, Senator Panfilo Lacson said in a separate online interview that a review of PhilHealth records showed a pattern of some hospitals, particularly privately-owned ones, being favored over state-owned hospitals in the distribution of IRM.
It was also revealed that even weeks before PhilHealth board approved the guidelines for the use of IRM funds, Philhealth released P9.3 billion in cash advances to various hospitals, especially to those “favored” health facilities.
Senator Christopher Go called for the punishment of those who are responsible for the irregularities within the agency, stressing that corruption is a disease that the country needs to both cure and prevent.
Senator Richard Gordon pointed to the need to overhaul PhilHealth’s system, or at least reshuffle or remove officials to ensure that taxpayers’ money is spent properly.
Gordon pointed out that the regional directors, most of whom, until recently, have remained in their original posts for more than 20 years, have a lot to answer for because they could have stopped the malpractices had they been more stringent in verifying hospital reimbursements.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, meanwhile, called for more auditors to act as “a vaccine against corruption in PhilHealth.”
“Even with one auditor per region is still lacking,” he said after COA Chairman Michael Aguinaldo said the agency had 16 auditors plus one administration staff assigned full-time to PhilHealth.
“Auditors are like smoke detectors. PhilHealth is like a big building with hundreds of rooms, but only 16 are equipped with it,” Recto said.
“If an agency spends more than P140 billion a year in batches of 35,000 claims a day from 8,500 hospitals and clinics, then you must have auditors more than what you can fit in a van,” Recto added.
Recto said having more auditors who can do post-audit, fraud audit and performance audit “is one of the many anti-corruption vaccines that PhilHealth would need.”
Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said there is no need to suspend the IRM despite the corruption allegations.
“We don’t have to suspend it yet but it’s worth examining if the releases have been responsive to the needs of the times, ,” he said.
He said the funding for testing should be prioritized, especially since many of the lower income sectors have expressed frustration at being unable to get tested for COVID-19.
Senator joel Villanueva said since the IRM is designed to provide cash advances for medical facilities handling COVID-19 cases, all releases should only cater to this requirement.
He said other facilities handling non-COVID cases should continue to follow its regular processing of claims.
Drilon said there must be standards set to prevent favoritism in the disbursements, which fuels suspicion of corruption.
He said there must also be strict rules on liquidation.
“If PhilHealth is efficient in processing claims and paying them on time, you have no reason to launch an IRM or an advanced payment system,” he added.
The Department of Justice on Wednesday said it has yet to receive a formal request from the
Senate to place under the government’s Witness Protection Program the whistleblowers in the multi-billion fund anomaly at PhilHealth.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said once the DOJ receives the Senate’s request, they will immediately evaluate the testimonies of the witnesses for possible inclusion in the WPP.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III earlier approved the proposal to place former PhilHealth anti-fraud officer Thorsson Montes Keith, board member Alejandro Cabading, and former head executive assistant Etrobal Laborte under the WPP.
The three witnesses testified before the Senate inquiry that millions of pesos in PhilHealth funds were being squandered and pocketed by some of its officials.
READ: 36 tied to PhilHealth mess
READ: President Duterte: No mercy for corrupt PhilHealth officials, personnel
