Duque, Morales charged with PhilHealth anomaly!

The Senate Committee of the Whole has already recommended to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Ombudsman to file a criminal case against Health Sec. Francisco Duque III, former PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales and other senior officials of the agency due to alleged corruption here. According to Senate President Vicente Sotto III, the decision is based on the recommendation of the 10-senator after a three-day hearing conducted by the committee. Cases of malversation of public funds or property, illegal use of public funds and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act are recommended to be filed against Duque who is also chairman of the board of PhilHealth, Morales, as well as Arnel de Jesus, executive vice president and chief operating officer; Renato Limsiaco Jr., senior vice president for fund management sector; Israel Francis Pargas, SVP for health finance policy sector; and all officers and employees who conspired for the implementation of the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism or IRM. Rodolfo del Rosario Jr., an administrative case, resigned as VP for Legal Sector. Cases of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Government Procurement Reform Act in connection with the overpriced purchase of IT equipment were also recommended against Jovita Aragona, SVP for information management sector; and Calixto Gabuya Jr., acting senior manager of the IT and management department. The senators also asked the Anti-Money Laundering Council to find out if the bank accounts of the said officials and private entities involved in the malversation of PhilHealth funds have "suspicous accounts" or hidden wealth. The courtesy resignation also serves the officials from the Chief operating officer so that the president can freely choose who will be placed in office.