Duterte set to receive report from Task Force PhilHealth

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte is set to receive tomorrow the comprehensive report of Task Force PhilHealth on the alleged anomalies and irregularities in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra, who heads the task force, said they were able to accomplish their report and recommendations on the PhilHealth mess within the 30-day period given to them by Duterte.

He did not disclose the recommendations of the task force, saying that Duterte should be the first to know about it.

But Guevarra said that their work will continue as far as the investigation is concerned.

“I can’t say our investigation is over. We’ve only just begun,” Guevarra said.

“We wound up our initial investigation only because we are required to submit a report to the President in 30 days. But our composite teams will continue their ongoing investigations and special audits and file legal actions as they finish one case after another,” he added.

Duterte had ordered Guevarra to form a special investigation panel to validate the alleged anomalies in PhilHealth.

Guevarra created Task Force PhilHealth composed of investigators from the DOJ, the Office of the Ombudsman, Commission on Audit (COA), Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission.

The Office of the Special Assistant to the President, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the National Prosecution Service are also part of the task force.

Asked what could be the next step of the task force, Guevarra said that they will just have to wait for further directives from Duterte. But he said the different composite teams would continue performing their tasks.