[ad_1]
MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Vicente Sotto III insisted on Wednesday that criminal charges should be brought against Health Secretary Francisco Duque III for the corruption scandal at the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and that he should be replaced by someone “who has a greater will to fight corruption within his organization and the agencies under his supervision.”
“If I were [Duque]”I’ll get a good lawyer,” Sotto said during the Senate committee’s interpellation of the general report on the investigation of the PhilHealth scandal.
“We are talking here of P14 billion in [public funds]. It is impossible that the health secretary did not know about this, ”she said, referring to the total amount of the Provisional Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) that the state insurer distributed to medical establishments from March 25 to June 9.
“What we have is not only circumstantial [evidence]. You obviously know what’s going on. You shouldn’t say you don’t know anything because [he’s] actually plead guilty … for neglect or negligence [of duty]”Argued Under.
“Since March, PhilHealth launched P14 billion and [Duque] is chairman of the board… (who) leads the direction and agenda of the board. So you can’t feign ignorance, ”he said.
But Senator Panfilo Lacson, who initiated the hearings along with Sotto, and Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, doubted there was enough evidence to warrant charging.
The two senators said there was no conclusive evidence to show that Duque was involved in the illegal implementation of the IRM or the acquisition of overpriced IT equipment.
Read next
EDITOR’S SELECTION
MOST READ
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer and more than 70 other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download from 4am and share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
For comments, complaints or inquiries, please contact us.
[ad_2]
