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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 1) – A Senate panel recommended criminal and administrative violations against PhilHealth secretary of health and chairman of the PhilHealth board, Francisco Duque, former PhilHealth chairman Ricardo Morales, and other officials over the state health insurer fraud disaster, he said. on Tuesday the president of the Senate, Tito Sotto.
Sotto presented the report of the Senate Plenary Committee in which it was indicated that Duque, Morales and some senior vice presidents must be held accountable for anomalies such as the “murky” implementation of the cash advances or the interim repayment mechanism.
Lawmakers have questioned the implementation of the MRI, which was aimed at helping hospitals continue their operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the money was distributed to 279 facilities before the requirements were completed. The requirements were met on June 11, but the agency has already released more than P14 billion as of March 25, Sotto said.
The committee also found that the funds released exceeded the estimated costs for treating COVID-19.
“PhilHealth estimated 3.3 billion pesos for the cost of COVID for all of 2020,” Sotto said. “But the budget they put in is [But the budget they placed was] P26.8 billion pesos “.
The funds were also questionably given to non-COVID-19 facilities, such as the B. Braum Avitum dialysis centers.
B. Braum branches received P45 million despite the fact that some of their facilities do not have dialysis machines or isolation areas and can only provide outpatient care. B. Braum had previously denied colluding with PhilHealth, but the Senate is convinced it is a “ghost patient” scheme and recommended an investigation.
For this, the Senate panel recommended charges of embezzlement, illegal use of public funds and bribery against Duque, Morales, Executive Vice President Arnel de Jesus, Vice President of the Fund Management Sector Renato Limsiaco and Vice President of the Financing Policies Sector of Health Israel Pargas, as well as other employees. involved.
The committee also proposed indicting Duque, Morales, De Jesus, Limsiaco, Pargas and the employees involved with violation of the Internal Revenue Code because PhilHealth did not withhold IRM-related taxes. CNN Philippines is struggling to obtain comment from Duque and PhilHealth officials identified in the report.
In addition, the senators want the health institutions that obtained their IRM shares to liquidate the funds and return the unused amounts, Sotto said.
Too expensive
The committee also recommended charges of forgery, fraud, document concealment, corruption, and violation of public procurement law against officials of the corporation’s IT department.
Sotto said that the executive vice president of the information management sector, Jovita Aragona, and the interim senior manager Calixto Gabuya should pay to propose the purchase of network switches at 320,000 pls per unit, although they awarded much cheaper models at 62,424 pls. The most expensive model was already out of date and unavailable on the market, the committee found.
“They really insist on buying the Cisco 2960XR just to justify the higher price, although the truth is that the Cisco 9200 is cheaper to buy,” said Sotto.
[Translation: They are insisting that they were purchasing the Cisco 2960XR to justify that the price is higher even though the truth is cheaper Cisco 9200 is being bought]The committee also wants PhilHealth to start outsourcing its IT services to a reputable company, Sotto added.
Negligence
The panel also stated that the resigned Senior Vice President of the Legal Sector, Rodolfo Del Rosario, should be accused of negligence and corruption for not acting in the pending cases of the agency.
The committee found that of 7,452 cases against healthcare facilities at PhilHealth, only 5,327 of them or 71.48 percent were prosecuted since 2000. There were also 4,792 cases against healthcare workers of which only 45.97 per One hundred were resolved in the last 19 years.
The department also did not implement sanctions as in the case of the Perpetuo Socorro Hospital. PhilHealth was supposed to suspend the accreditation of the hospital and make them pay a fine of P10,000, but instead the hospital had to pay P100,000 without suspension.
Del Rosario had explained during the hearings that the sanction change was due to an approved board resolution, but the Senate maintained that the board does not have the power to modify the sanctions of cases decided by a court.
The committee also pushed for PhilHealth officials, from the CEO to the regional vice presidents, to submit their courtesy resignation to usher in a renewal of the agency’s management. The panel recommended the reassignment of officials every three years.
Senators also suggested greater involvement of the Audit Commission in PhilHealth matters over reports that the commission had trouble obtaining documents from the corporation, leading to inconsistent reports on PhilHealth’s financial condition.
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