MANILA, Philippines — Amid the raging pandemic and the alleged corruption plaguing the Phiippine Health Insurance Corp., Sen. Kiko Pangilinan on Tuesday said the state-run insurer needs a leader with public health and financial expertise, not experience in law enforcement.
This comes after new PhilHealth president and CEO Dante Gierran, a recent retiree from the National Bureau of Investigation, admitted that he has no prior knowledge or experience when it comes to public health.
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"I'm very scared. I'm scared because I don't know the operations of PhilHealth. Unlike NBI, I knew the operations of NBI. But PhilHealth, wala. I do not know about public health," Gierran told ANC's "Headstart."
"What I know about is financial management, having been a certified public accountant, and insurance," he added.
"I have serious misgivings about [Gierran's] appointment given that we clearly need a more holistic rather than a simplistic law enforcement approach to the cancer confronting PhilHealth in particular and the COVID health crisis in general," Pangilinan said in response.
"His predecessor too had no public health experience and that ended terribly for PhilHealth," the senator said, referring to the agency's former chief Ricardo Morales who resigned for health reasons amid three separate investigations into allegations of corruption and mismanagement against the state-run insurer's executives.
Pangilinan further cited Section 14 of the Universal Health Care Act which stipulates "that the Board cannot recommend a President and CEO of PhilHealth unless the member is a Filipino citizen and must have at least seven (7) years of experience in the field of public health, management, finance, and health economics or a combination of any of these expertise."
The PhilHealth Workers for Hope, Integrity, Transparency, and Empowerment expressed disappointment over Gierran's appointment, saying Duterte should have tapped a finance expert for the job. Despite this, the worker's group said it was ready to support the new PhilHealth chief.
Lacson: Gierran a good man
Meanwhile, Sen. Ping Lacson on the same day expressed his support for Gierran, calling him a "good man," but flagged the difficulties awaiting the embattled agency's new chief.
"I hope and I mean it — that PhilHealth will not be Dante's Inferno as he faces the challenges of his new mission," Lacson said.
"As a former chief of the National Bureau of Investigation, he should have no trouble coordinating with the powerhouse task force led by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, his former boss, to implement much-needed reforms in PhilHealth," he added.
However, Lacson cautioned him against "[falling] victim to manipulation by parties inside and outside of the agency who have caused the state insurer to lose billions of pesos to corruption — not just for his sake, but for all Filipinos covered by PhilHealth."
Palace: Gierran 'best choice' to lead PhilHealth
Malacañang on Tuesday stood firm on Gierran's appointment, calling him the "best choice" to lead the state-run insurer.
"Director Gierran already has seven years [of] management experience. It does not need to be health economics experience," Prsidential spokesman Harry Roque said.
According to Roque, President Duterte thought it best to appoint a new PhilHealth chief capable of conducting investigations in order to address corruption within the agency.
"Since the crimes being committed in PhilHealth are white collar crimes, we need someone who can understand financial reports, financial records, and balance statements I think Director Gierran is the best choice because he is a CPA and has an experience in criminal investigation," he added.