Finally, the PACC to file cases vs. PhilHealth

When we learned about the shocking truth happening inside the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), I wrote a column that the Office of the Ombudsman should immediately file cases against those suspected of any wrongdoing. What was sad to note was when PhilHealth Acting Senior Vice President Nerissa Santiago revealed that the insurance agency could go bankrupt next year. PhilHealth has about P221 billion in funds and may no longer be able to sustain operations due to the decreased collections and increased payouts for the health expenses of members due to COVID-19.

With this ranging report we learned in the news that at least 36 PhilHealth officials should be dismissed or face charges over the supposed padding of hospital claims, an official of Malacañang’s anti-corruption body mentioned. Yes, I am referring to my good friend, Commissioner Greco Belgica of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) who said that PhilHealth officials had failed to verify the information on receivables given by hospitals, resulting in the padding of claims. The PACC has recommended the dismissal of the officials and the filing of cases before the Office of the Ombudsman.

I’m just sorry that the PACC did not notice the huge anomaly being done inside PhilHealth until that Senate hearing when the truth inside the PhilHealth was exposed to the public. Meanwhile, Malacañang reveals that PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales won’t be fired unless there is proof linking him to the anomalies.

PACC’s Belgica did not identify the officials, but said more names may be included as the investigations move forward. He said, “We initially submitted 31 names. Now we have an additional five names, so it’s now 36.”

“The bulk of the problem of PhilHealth stems from the claims of hospitals. The receivables are so high and (PhilHealth does) not validate it... PhilHealth acts like an (automated teller machine). It just releases payments. It’s like getting a bill from a restaurant, but we are not looking at the bill,” he added.

At this point, I would like to know what the Duterte administration will do to ensure the Filipino people that this will never happen to PhilHealth again. More importantly that Pres. Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte has a solution to ensure that PhilHealth will continue serving the Filipino people years from now.

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With so many issues to write about, I had to put aside talking about the incident where the man who once headed the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) cult, Ruben Ecleo Jr., was finally caught or surrendered. This fellow has been on the run for eight years now and allegedly he had grown tired of the fugitive life and sort of gave up. Now we really don’t know how true this story goes.

The former congressman was convicted of parricide in 2011 for killing his wife. Ecleo is also facing three anti-graft cases before the Sandiganbayan. With a bounty of P2 million, the 60-year-old is said to be the most wanted person in the list of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Ecleo was not only head of the PBMA; he was also the mayor of San Jose town in Dinagat Island from 1991 to 1994. He was convicted by the Sandiganbayan in 2006 for graft over an overpriced and uncompleted public market project and was meted up to more than 31 years in prison, which he never served. In 2012, he was also found guilty of killing his wife, then fourth-year medical student Alona Bacolod Ecleo in 2002, with the court imposing life imprisonment that he was not able to serve, as he turned fugitive.

According to a report sent to Philippine National Police chief Police General Archie Gamboa, members of the National Capital Region Police Office’s intelligence and mobile force units arrested Ecleo at 4:30 a.m. last July 30 near a golf course in San Fernando, Pampanga. They also accosted his driver, Benjie Relacion Fernan, who will be charged for obstruction of justice.

However, I don’t think Ecleo will be sent to Cebu, but rather the Department of Justice has moved him to the New Bilibid Prisons the other day.