‘PhilHealth chief could also be charged’

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) Corp. president Ricardo Morales may be charged for possible complicity in some questionable activities in the agency based on evidence gathered during the Senate investigation, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said yesterday.

Lacson said the Senate Committee of the Whole will turn over all the evidence and records of the Senate proceedings to the task force – headed by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra – investigating the anomalies at PhilHealth.

Lacson said the committee gathered several documents signed by Morales which could make him liable for complicity, including the memorandum on the questionable Internal Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM), which grants substantial aid to an eligible health care institution directly dealing with unfortunate events like the COVID-19 contagion.

“Based on the investigation we conducted, it is clear that he (Morales) can also be charged… You can see the complicity of Gen. Morales since he signed questionable documents,” Lacson said in Filipino in an interview over dwIZ.

Lacson cited a memorandum signed by Morales, instructing the regional vice presidents of PhilHealth to sign the Bureau of Internal Revenue Form 2307 to certify that taxes had already been withheld by PhilHealth, while in reality, there had been no deduction.

“It’s a good thing the PhilHealth regional vice presidents did not sign the documents since they knew the taxes have not been withheld yet. If they signed it, they could be held liable for falsification of public documents,” Lacson said.

He also cited as highly questionable the issuance of the IRM circular on March 20 and PhilHealth’s starting to release funds on March 25.

He said it was only on June 11 that PhilHealth submitted three copies to the Office of National Administrative Register (ONAR) of the UP Law Center, which is the official repository of all the implementing rules and regulations issued by different government agencies.

“How can funds be released on March 25 of about P14 billion when the circular has not been submitted to ONAR. It’s illegal. There is (an) SC ruling about that as part of the administrative order that documents should be submitted to ONAR before it can take effect,” he added.

Also, Lacson said the Senate is eyeing the restructuring of PhilHealth as one of the possible measures to prevent corruption in the agency.

Lacson said senators are also studying the implication on the health sector of the suggestion to dissolve PhilHealth, as some of its officials have allegedly pocketed some P15 billion in funds through anomalous transactions.

“There were several recommendations on the possible measures to prevent previous and existing corruption in PhilHealth. Aside from restructuring the organization, another suggestion was to dissolve the PhilHealth. However, we are studying its implication to the health sector,” Lacson said.

He said PhilHealth has a huge part in the implementation of the newly enacted Universal Health Care Act which aims to provide easier and equal healthcare access to Filipinos.

“We passed the UHC Act and PhilHealth plays a big part in its implementation. But if we see that the hundreds of billions of pesos being allocated in the national budget will only go to the pockets of those corrupt people in PhilHealth, is it still right to provide the agency additional funds? That’s what we are now studying,” he added.