The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is embroiled in another corruption controversy . Billions of the agency's funds have been allegedly embezzled by some officials, according to its resigned anti-fraud legal officer and lawyer Thorrsson Keith.
PhilHealth is once again the center of public attention even though last year the controversy over the proposal to make the contribution of overseas Filipino workers such an agency mandatory .
Crime of the year
Keith resigned from his position on July 23 . One of the reasons for his resignation was "widespread corruption in PhilHealth", according to his resignation letter submitted to (Ret.) Brig. Gen. Ricardo Morales, president and chief operating officer of the agency. This is in addition to the alleged delay in his salary and hazard pay which he said he started when he investigated its officials.
When Keith appeared before the Senate hearing on August 4 regarding the said anomaly in PhilHealth, he revealed the alleged P15-Billion fund allegedly embezzled by PhilHealth officials. He even called the incident of corruption a "crime of the year" allegedly committed by the "syndicate" in the agency.
The resigned anti-fraud legal officer revealed an alleged anomaly in the implementation of the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM), the agency's cash advance program that provides emergency fund to hospitals for members' insurance claims, in response to -expected events such as disasters and disasters.
"What I discovered at PhilHealth can be called a crime of the year due to the syndicate in the distribution of cash advance - the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism, and the overpriced and repeated purchase of IT equipment," Keith said at the hearing. Senate.
The overpricing of the budget for 2020 of PhilHealth's ICT sector worth more than P734-Million approved by its officials was also a hot topic at the hearing . According to Alejandro Cabading, accountant and PhilHealth board member, he discovered the irregularities when comparing the agency's proposed budget for 2020 for the ICT sector with the Information Systems Strategic Plan (ISSP) approved by the Department of Information and Communications Technology .
Questionable items in the budget include Adobe Master Collection software worth P21-M ( P168,000 according to ISSP); unlocked number of laptop, P119-M ; 43 'undeclared "ICT resources", P40-M ; three unnamed projects worth P98-M and many more.
Cabading told the Senate that he discovered that there were budget items and financial reports that did not match and he said he tried to "find solutions to issues internally" by allegedly filing with the board and management.
"The frustrating part is that the management seems to be tolerating such anomalies in their silence against the Philhealth executive officers who are obviously compromised," Cabading said.
In addition to such accusations of corruption among the officials is the issue of overpricing of Covid-19 testing kits which according to Kieth Morales ordered him to 'forget' the matter. The Senate earlier investigated in May the P8,150 price of PhilHealth for such testing kits which dropped to P3,409 after a few weeks.
Keith will allegedly present additional evidence at the next Senate hearing on the matter.
Extraordinary initiative
Morales, along with other officials, denied such allegations of corruption. According to the agency's official statement on July 31, such allegations here and its officials are "untrue, twisted half-truths or misinformation."
Morales defended that the IRM was allegedly implemented as an "extraordinary initiative" in the "extraordinary period" which allegedly provides flexibility to hospitals that respond to patients with Coivd-19. All funds released are said to be "above board" or legal and in accordance with the agency's standards. It is said that its executive committee is ready to show the receipts of those released for IRM.
Philhealth officials threatened to file a libel lawsuit against Thorrsson Keith and others alleging 'initiating malicious measures.'
Meanwhile, PhilHealth PCEO Morales and Executive Vice-President Arnel de Jesus revealed to the Senate Committee of the Whole their medical condition as the Senate hearing on anomalies in the said public corporation approaches.
According to Morales' medical certificate, he has lymphoma and his oncologist advised him to rest first so that he can undergo six cycles of treatment and be vulnerable to 'opportunistic infections'. In a separate letter sent to Senate President Vicente Sotto III, de Jesus announced that he will not be able to attend the next Senate hearing due to the "unforeseen medical emergency."
The President is still confident
It seems that Sen. Panfilo Lacson s i President Duterte regarding his threat of immediate kicking of any government official even in the simple "whiff" or smell of corruption.
“He (Duterte) said the other day just a whiff of corruption if you just smell it, you will be removed. This is not just a whiff of corruption. It is frustrating, ”the Senator said in an interview with ABS-CBN.
The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) has called on the President to do what he says is to curb government corruption and punish all those involved in PhilHealth's allegedly lost P15-B fund.
"PhilHealth contributors are angry at the news that officials are pocketing the agency's funds. This is an outrageous plunder of hard-earned money by PhilHealth contributors. The heads should roll, ”said Elmer“ Ka Bong ”Labog , chairman of KMU
But it seems that President Duterte is not yet convinced to remove Morales from office. According to the spokesman of President Harry Roque, extended reportedly Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, President Duterte still trusts Morales.
"The President said he will not kick it in office unless there is evidence and I think the Senate is in the process of documenting it," Roque said in an interview with CNN Philippines.
It will be recalled that the President appointed Morales as leader, with the aim of curbing corruption, in such a public corporation in July last year.
It has been President Duterte's practice to place retired military and police officers in key positions in government because they are said to be 'disciplined' and 'performing their jobs.'
The President's apparent defense of some of his former military and police appointees has also been controversial, as in the case of Isidro Lapeña and Nicanor Faeldon who were both involved in the anomaly, as Bureau of Customs officials, in connection with the "excuse" drugs.
In the midst of separate investigations, the President transferred two officials - Lapeña to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or Tesda while Faeldon to the Bureau of Corrections. Lapeña remains director-general until Lapeña while Faeldon was ousted by the President in BuCor when he was implicated in another case of anomaly related to the questionable implementation of the Good Conduct Time Allowance.
And almost released the convicted rapist and murderer and former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez in the last room of 2019.
Expel 'mafia'
KMU also demanded the removal of the so-called 'PhilHealth mafia' and "conducted an overhaul to the agency to help the people facing the pandemic."
"This is a clear demonstration of the indifference of corrupt politicians who collect taxes from the people to get rich despite the worsening pandemic. People are angry because it is their money and the government needs to act immediately, ”said Labog.
For the group, the P15-B fund that allegedly went to the thieves could have been used to buy 11 million PCR test kits, personal protective equipment or to hire an additional 10,000 doctors or 15,000 nurses.
"It would have been used as compensation to the frontliners who worked all day to save lives and prevent the disease from spreading to a larger population," the labor leader concluded.