Retired military general Ricardo Morales is next PhilHealth chief—Duque

President Rodrigo Duterte has chosen retired military general Ricardo Morales as the new president of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) which has recently been embroiled in a controversy involving fraudulent claims.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Thursday confirmed to GMA News Online Morales’ upcoming assignment, three days after Duterte said he would transfer the former Army official from the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) where he was a board member.

Duque did not say when Morales will assume the top PhilHealth post. Malacañang also has yet to release Morales’ appointment paper.

Duterte’s spokesperson Salvador Panelo earlier said the President was eyeing doctor-businessman Jaime Cruz as successor to former PhilHealth acting president Dr. Roy Ferrer, who resigned last week along with six board members upon the orders of the President.

The Palace said the President wanted a clean slate in the agency following the alleged funding of dialysis treatment for patients who are already deceased.

The National Bureau of Investigation had already filed complaints before the Department of Justice against Bryan Sy, the owner and vice president of WellMed Dialysis Center tagged in the illegal PhilHealth claims scheme. 

Sy and nine others face complaints for estafa and falsification of documents before the DOJ which will decide whether to dismiss the charges or indict them in court.

The two former employees who first made the accusations, Edwin Roberto and Liezel de Leon, are included in the charge sheet and hope to be turned into witnesses if the case would be filed in court. — MDM, GMA News