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Senate President Vicente Sotto III is confident that the plenary will adopt today (September 7) the report of the Committee of the Whole (COW) on anomalies in the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), including a proposal to cite the Secretary of Health Francisco Duque III among them. responsible for the questionable release of P14.8 billion in Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) funds during the pandemic, including to non-critical healthcare facilities.
In a radio interview with DWIZ over the weekend, Sotto said that the COW report will be on Monday’s agenda and since it was signed by 22 senators, he sees its rapid adoption after amendments suggested by a few are incorporated. ” nine to ten “senators.
Regarding Senator Panfilo Lacson’s initial reluctance to include Duque among those recommended for indictment, Sotto said Lacson seemed satisfied with the explanation he gave during last week’s interpellation in the COW report when he reported him in court. .
Revised Penal Code
“Initially, Lacson felt that participation [of Duque] it was not clear. But after the interpellation period, we talked and he himself saw that yes, it is difficult to ignore Article 217. [of the Revised Penal Code, on negligence]”Sotto noted, partly in Filipino.
“Then, from that moment on, [it was clear that the] the chairman of the board cannot plead ignorance of the actions taken by his agency; that all actions must be known to the board [and] therefore, it is impossible that the chairman of the council did not know. And the entire agency is under his department as chairman of the board, ”Sotto added.
The Senate leader noted that it is clear that under section 217 of the Revised Penal Code, Duque, as chairman of PhilHealth, should have known that the IRM “initially created to allow health care institutions [HCIs] to immediately respond to public emergencies like the Covid-19 pandemic ”was being abused when PhilHealth began releasing billions of dollars even in those facilities that barely treated Covid patients.
“That can’t be an excuse because if you use that excuse, you are pleading guilty to Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code for negligence. I think they better come up with a better excuse … Impossible. If you insist you didn’t know, then you are pleading guilty to 217. You were negligent, ”Sotto emphasized.
“Yes, 632 counts of negligence,” he added.
No deletions
Meanwhile, Sotto does not see his colleagues remove parts of the report, but add it, during the amendment period when it is addressed in plenary.
He recalled minority leader Franklin M. Drilon’s amendment to recommend an actuarial review by the relevant PhilHealth financial status agencies. This way, the public will know how long their health insurance costs can be maintained, Drilon said.
At the same time, Sotto added, other senators like Cynthia Villar have also indicated their intention to introduce other amendments.
“In other words, according to the interpellations of the commission’s report, 40 percent of which was covered in my sponsorship speech, all the senators had read it. Before I even gave my sponsorship speech, I sent them copies of the committee report; that’s why 22 senators signed. I don’t see any problem in the amendment period because concentrated additions, nothing more-Remove [it will all be additions, no deletions]”, Added the president of the Senate.
When asked if he expected additional amendments, Sotto replied: “Yes. Right. I anticipate that happening on Monday. “
Charges to present
Sotto expects charges to be filed within a year against those responsible in the Senate investigation.
“Yes. I’m looking forward to that. What some people are saying about putting this off and focusing only on the pandemic, I don’t buy it. Even before the pandemic, plans were being made,” he said, adding that since February he and the Secretary of the Treasury, Carlos Domínguez III, were already speaking.
“So, from March until now, plans were being made; only critics say they weren’t plans; that will not be affected just by changing the agency head. “
To those who ask: “Why do you change horses in the middle of the race?” My answer is, I am not going to change horses; I am changing rider. If you show the horse your address, it will go there. “
