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President Rodrigo Roa Duterte ROBINSON NIÑAL JR./ PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte has given the new head of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Dante Gierran, until the end of the year to “clean up” the corruption-ridden state insurance firm, Malacañang said Thursday. .
“It is an ultimatum. You need to clean up PhilHealth before the end of the year, ”Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said at a televised press conference at the Palace.
Roque said the president wants Gierran to “present all the cases that must be brought,” suspend or fire officials, and do “whatever it takes to clean up the ranks of PhilHealth.”
Gierran, a former head of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), took the reins from PhilHealth chairman Ricardo Morales, who recently resigned amid allegations of systematic corruption within the agency.
Among the complaints of corruption raised are the acquisition of allegedly overvalued computer equipment; an allegedly questionable release of funds under the corporation’s Interim Refund Mechanism (IRM); and the alleged manipulation of the financial status of the corporation.
A multi-agency task force recently concluded its initial investigations into the matter and recommended the filing of corruption charges against Morales and several other PhilHealth officials.
On Wednesday night, Duterte met with leaders of both houses of Congress where he said he wanted to abolish PhilHealth. But the president of the Senate, Vicente Sotto III, advised against the president, saying that, instead, he should give Gierran time to fix the corruption problems.
“He said he wanted PhilHealth abolished or privatized, but I said it would be better to wait a few months and see how the new administration performs and that I have a bill that makes the Secretary of Finance the Chairman of the Board instead. of the DoH (Department of Health) Secretary. She agreed with my proposal, ”Sotto said.
“I explained to him that PhilHealth is an insurance company and not a health entity,” he added.
JPV
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