Health Secretary Francisco Duque III faced for the first time on Wednesday the House of Representatives (HoR) over the alleged anomalies within the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
Duque countered the Senate’s recommendation to file charges against him, resigned PhilHealth President Ricardo Morales, and other officials.
He claimed that “the Senate Committee rules made baseless finding on mere allegation alone” and that his signature was not even affixed on the resolution concerning the interim reimbursement mechanism (IRM).
Duque was recently dragged into the issue of the anomalous utilization of the IRM or the cash advance for the emergency funds of some hospitals in case of calamities. The health secretary argued that he does not tolerate any type of corruption.
Solons proposed the granting of emergency powers to President Rodrigo Duterte to fully implement reforms in PhilHealth’s system.
“Maganda po ‘yung inyong panukala na bigyan ng karagdagang kapangyarihan si Pangulong Duterte para mas mabilis ang reporma na isailalim ang PhilHealth (The proposal to grant President Duterte additional power is good to speed up the reforms in Philhealth),” Duque responded.
The President has recently appointed former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Dante Gierran as the new Philhealth chief to address the issue within the corporation.
“I’m optimistic that under the most able leadership of Atty. Dante Gierran, he will ferret out the scalawags and return the public’s confidence in PhilHealth especially in these trying times,” Duque stated.
– Report from Louisa Erispe
