House Committee on Public Accounts Chairperson Mike Defensor is recommending to file plunder raps against PhilHealth officials down to the regional level involved in the alleged PhilHealth mafia.
This is in relation to the billions worth of funds that are reportedly missing. The Commission on Audit (COA) report also showed that there was questionable increase in claims from various health cases such as pneumonia and hemodialysis for the past years.
“Lahat ng government offices, kapag nagkaroon ng bidding, eksakto dapat ang bini-bid price. Nakita ko sa inyong batas, under the UHC Law, pwede kayong magkaroon ng scheme. Pero it doesn’t mean, hindi ibig sabihin na hindi magkakaroon ng tamang pagbayad sa presyo (When there is bidding in all government offices, the bid price must be exact. I saw in your law, under the UHC Law, that you can have a scheme. But it does not mean that there will be no right payment for the price),” Defensor pointed out.
“And I submit to the members of this committee, this in fact is plunder,” Defensor added.
Meanwhile, PhilHealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales, Executive Vice President Arnel de Jesus, and Senior Vice President Rodolfo del Rosario suddenly left the virtual meeting during the house inquiry due to health concerns.
Deputy Speaker LRay Villafuerte is now challenging PhilHealth officials to sign a waiver to let the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) investigate their bank accounts.
The Lower House also ordered the issuance of subpoena for the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) of the board members and officials of PhilHealth in line with the investigation of their bank accounts. – Report from Daniel Manalastas
