Gov't chief CPP-NPA-NDF negotiator to sit as new PhilHealth president

MANILA, Philippines - Amid dimming hopes for peace talks with communist rebels, government peace panel chief negotiator Alexander Padilla resigned to take his seat at the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

President Benigno Aquino III earlier nominated Padilla, who was an undersecretary at the Department of Health, to sit as president and chief executive of the government-controlled company.

Padilla said in a radio interview Tuesday that he has already submitted his notice to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPPAP) Teresita Deles, hoping to focus on his new post.

He also admitted that there is no improvement in the negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front since February.

The OPPAP, meanwhile, has not yet announced who would succeed Padilla in the panel.

Padilla will replace Health Secretary Enrique Ona, who concurrently sits in Philhealth as its president and chief executive. - Camille Diola