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MANILA, Philippines – The task force formed by President Duterte to go after officials who allegedly misused billions of pesos in Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) COVID-19 response funds has found “evidence enough “to impeach Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Sunday.
Lacson, who had exposed massive corruption at the state health insurer along with Senate President Vicente Sotto III, said Duque and other PhilHealth officials should not celebrate prematurely after they were not named in the criminal complaint that the Office National Investigations presented in the Office. of the Ombudsman last week.
He said Duque, the resigned senior vice president of PhilHealth Rodolfo del Rosario Jr. and the others could be included in the next batch of cases that the task force, led by the Department of Justice (DOJ), would lead to the fight against corruption. .
“In fact, (Sotto) has good information that the task force has enough evidence against the others who were not charged initially, specifically Secretary Duque,” Lacson told the Inquirer.
He said the “inside information” was released to the Senate president by a “trusted source” in the task force.
Lacson also noted that Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra had previously said that the list of accused persons “was not yet final” as investigators were still reviewing the evidence, including documents presented by the Senate plenary committee.
The task force, he said, may have been “pressed for time” as the president gave it just 30 days to complete the investigation of fraudulent transactions that had cost PhilHealth P154 billion since 2003 and put it on the brink of financial collapse.
“It may be prudent to wait for their investigation to be completed,” Lacson said. “If the investigation is not over yet, we may be talking too soon.”
Asked for comment, Sotto confirmed that he was told by a reliable source that Duque would be among those surveyed in the next batch of cases to be filed by the NBI.
“[My source] he says yes, that he (Duque) could be included in the next group of officials (to be accused in the Ombudsman’s Office), ”Sotto said in a text message to the Inquirer.
The plenary committee of the Senate, which Sotto had chaired, had requested the presentation of criminal and administrative charges against Duque, the president and general director of PhilHealth, Ricardo Morales, Del Rosario and others resigned.
PhilHealth executives after holding four public hearings.
Senators voted unanimously to adopt the committee report that the Senate president had prepared, which concluded that Duque and others should be held responsible for the misappropriation of P14.9 billion in the Interim Refund Mechanism Fund (IRM ) that PhilHealth assigned to hospitals treating patients infected with the new coronavirus.
The Senate also recommended the dismissal of Duque, who had accused the senators of politicking and called his decision to indict him for embezzlement of public funds as “the height of injustice and injustice.”
The Senate investigation, which came in the immediate aftermath of Inquirer’s spate of reports of ongoing fraud at PhilHealth, forced Morales to resign from his post.
Last week, the NBI finally indicted Morales and eight of his subordinates for allegedly conspiring in the distribution of P2.7 billion in MRI funds to 139 hospitals and health facilities, including maternity clinics and dialysis centers, in Metro. Manila.
Respondents named along with Morales were PhilHealth Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Arnel de Jesus, Senior Vice Presidents Renato Limsiaco Jr. and Israel Francis Pargas, Vice President for the National Capital Region (NCR) Gregorio Rulloda, Manager from NCR headquarters, Lolita Tuliao, and other PhilHealth officials identified as Imelda Trinidad de Vera-Pe, Gemma Sibucao and Lailani Padua.
When contacted for comment Sunday, Morales said he had not yet received a copy of the complaint. “Let me consult with my attorneys and I will issue a statement at the appropriate time after receiving the relevant documents,” he said.
The others have not issued statements as of Sunday.
Citing the admission of Del Rosario and Duque, the NBI said that the release of the funds earmarked specifically for COVID-19 was “invalid and without legal basis” as PhilHealth officials violated the policies and guidelines they established for the use of IRM funds.
Illegal cash delivery
The NBI supported Lacson’s view that PhilHealth officials unlawfully delivered the cash bonanza to select healthcare facilities without completing mandatory documentary requirements, such as the resolution passed by the company’s board of directors.
In addition to wasting IRM funds, PhilHealth executives were also accused of tampering with the health insurer’s financial documents and of overpricing a P2.1 billion information technology project, which was ironically designed to eradicate corruption in PhilHealth.
Lacson said that while the NBI excluded Duque and the others, the DOJ’s investigative unit was able to use the documents and related evidence that the Senate panel had presented to Guevarra to conduct its own investigation.
“Overall, they appreciated the testimonial evidence [of the whistleblowers] and other evidence that we send them, ”he said in a separate radio interview.
When asked if senators were disappointed with the NBI’s action, the senator said: “We keep our options open.”
“We can begin filing cases in front of those who were not charged by the task force,” Lacson said.
“Nothing prevents us from going to the Ombudsman’s Office as a body, like the entire Senate, or even Congress as a whole since the House is also doing its own investigation,” he added.
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