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The Senate recommended the filing of corruption and embezzlement charges against Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd and eight former and current Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) officials.
The recommendation was contained in the 88-page report presented by Senate President Vicente Sotto 3, chairman of the Committee of the Whole that investigated the alleged rampant corruption at the state insurer.
Sotto said that based on his research, it appeared that PhilHealth “is bleeding to death because it does not have enough money to pay its creditors.”
“Based on PhilHealth’s 2019 financial status, the agency has P111 billion in liabilities and P109 billion in equity, or a debt-to-equity ratio of 1 to .99. This showed that the agency does not have a solid financial condition to face its liabilities, ”said the senator.
The Senate also sought the filing of criminal charges against Ricardo Morales, former president and CEO; Arnel de Jesus, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; Renato Limsiaco Jr., Senior Vice President, Fund Management Industry; and Israel Francis Pargas, Senior Vice President, Health Finance Policy Sector for his “illegal implementation of the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM).”
The senators noted that they enforced the IRM “against their duly authorized purpose and for their gross abuse of discretion or gross negligence in determining the beneficiary of the IRM without valid distribution criteria.”
It was also recommended the presentation of separate charges of corruption and violation of the Internal Revenue Code of the Nation and the Law of the Republic 1051 against Duque, Morales, de Jesús, Limsiaco and Pargas for their “lack of tax withholding of health institutions those who released funds to IRM.
Corruption charges should also be brought against Rodolfo del Rosario Jr., resigned senior vice president of the legal sector; Jovita Aragona, Senior Vice President of the Information Management Sector; and Calixto Gabuya, acting senior director of the information technology management department for fraud cases.
The senators asked the Justice Department or the Ombudsman’s Office to file administrative charges against Morales, de Jesús, del Rosario and Dennis Mas, senior vice president of the management services sector for breach of duties.
The panel also urged the Insurance Commission to participate in scrutinizing PhilHealth’s operations to provide “an additional layer of protection to ensure that PhilHealth is financially sound and solvent, and that transactions are within acceptable parameters.”
Senators also asked the Governance Commission for GOCC, or GCG, to conduct a special audit of PhilHealth’s finances, “possibly in the last 5 to 10 years.” GOCC stands for Government Owned and Controlled Corporations.
Meanwhile, the Senate has asked the Anti-Money Laundering Council to investigate whether the bank accounts of PhilHealth officials and private entities implicated in the misuse of PhilHealth funds fall into the category of so-called suspicious accounts.
Sotto said PhilHealth “is bleeding due to the inefficient running of the corporation, compounded by corrupt internal practices.”
“Fortunately for us, the last two causes can be prevented and we can solve them. Therefore, we must exercise our highest authority and vigilance to rid PhilHealth of undesirables and punish to the fullest extent of the law, “he emphasized.
The panel concluded that the implementation of IRM was questionable because “there was no set of criteria on which HCIs (health care institutions) will receive IRM funds.”
“Worse still, the MRI was even disbursed to HCI who are not accredited by PhilHealth and have pending cases for violations of their accreditation guarantees,” the chamber said, citing the cases of Catarman Doctors Hospital in Northern Samar and St. Benedict Hospital. . in Davao del Sur.
“PhilHealth is in a deep hole. We are still not sure how deep. Unless we discover the true state of PhilHealth’s finances, we will never know. And that lack of knowledge is something that all of us cannot afford to have, ”Sotto said.
“Our country is in a desperate situation. Gross domestic product was down 16.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the national statistics agency, the worst reading in a data series dating back to 1981. That’s a fact, “he said. “The pressure on government finances becomes even greater as we try to implement the Universal Care Law, which aims to cover all of us.”
Duque deplored the Senate’s recommendation, saying “this is not the best time for the Executive [department] to have a difference with the Legislative Power ”.
“It is unfortunate that I was implemented in the alleged irregularities of the IRM when I was not even present during the deliberation or signed the resolution of the Board.” added.
The health chief said he will cooperate with any investigation of the matter.
“I certainly intend to clear my name,” he said.
