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MANILA, Philippines – Reports from the Senate and the interagency task force that investigated alleged corruption at the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) did not point to the responsibility of the company’s board members for the allegations of wrongdoing that plague to the agency, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said Tuesday.
“To me, I think that what is lacking in both the Senate and DOJ (Department of Justice) reports, which frankly I have not read yet although I am only commenting on newspaper accounts, is the accountability of the members of the same meeting. ”Recto told CNN Philippines in an interview.
“None of the recommendations have included the responsibility of the board members,” he added.
Recto said it should have been the PhilHealth board, and not the Senate, that oversees the leadership and management of the state insurer.
He noted that all stakeholders in the health system, such as officials from the Departments of Health, Finance, Budget and Management, Welfare and Development, and Labor and Employment, were included on the board to ensure proper management of PhilHealth.
“If the board did its job, then there should be no problem,” Recto said.
“Why did the board leave PhilHealth considering PhilHealth is one of the most important GOCCs [government-owned and controlled corporations] Do we have that? “He also asked.
(Why did the board neglect PhilHealth considering it to be one of the most important GOCCs we have?)
The senator also noted that the PhilHealth board has neglected “all the work that we have done over the years to make sure we have a good healthcare system, which should have served us well now during a time of pandemic.”
Recto added that the Office of the Ombudsman should conduct further investigations, noting that the Justice Department, which led the PhilHealth Task Force, is only a referral body for President Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte previously approved the task force’s recommendation to bring criminal and administrative cases against former PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales and several other officials who alleged wrongdoing at the agency.
In addition to Morales, among those who will be criminally and administratively charged are Senior Vice President Jovita Aragona, Officer-in-Charge Calixto Gabuya Jr., Senior Vice President Renato Limsiaco, Senior Vice President Israel Francis Pargas, Chief Operating Officer Arnel de Jesus and division chief Bobby Crisostomo.
The allegations of wrongdoing launched against PhilHealth include those involved in the acquisition of allegedly overpriced IT equipment; the allegedly questionable release of funds under its Provisional Refund Mechanism; and the alleged manipulation of the financial status of the corporation.
Before the task force presented its findings to Duterte, the Senate Plenary Committee also recommended filing cases against Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who also chairs the PhilHealth board, as well as Morales and various senior officials from the signature.
JE
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