Whistle-blower 'vengeful' after he didn't get post -Morales

Thorsson Montes Keith, who recently resigned as anti-fraud officer of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), is accusing officials of the state insurer of corruption because he failed to secure the position he wanted, its chief executive officer claimed Tuesday.

In a Senate hearing, PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Ricardo Morales said he did not give Keith the position he wanted which is why he is vengeful.

"Specifically about Attorney Thorsson, I always said he was vengeful because I refused to give him a position that I think he was not qualified," Morales said.

According to Morales, Keith wanted the executive assistant position, which was being vacated by Estrobal "Bal" Laborte who was leaving for further studies.

"Ang totoo niyan, he came to me kasi sabi niya maliit daw ang sweldo niya at aalis naman si Mr. Bal Laborte dahil mag-i-schooling, so tinanggihan ko siya dahil position of trust naman 'yung executive assistant at hindi ko naman siya ganon kakilala," Morales explained.

"Right now, ngayon ho na umalis siya sa PhilHealth, meron hong apat na complaint sa kanya, sexual harassment, so he is not qualified for the position that he applied," he added.

In the hearing, Morales also noted that Keith was kicked out of the Philippine National Police in 2017 for going AWOL, and resigned as a graduating cadet of the Philippine Military Academy in 2010 "for the good of the service."

Keith was present at the hearing, but has yet to be asked for his response to Morales' claims as of posting time.

To recall, Keith -- along with other officials of PhilHealth -- resigned last month due to alleged corrupt practices in the agency.

Earlier in the session, Keith alleged that Morales tried to use him to iron out the supposed overpriced test kits for the coronavirus disease 2019.

Keith also earlier claimed that the PhilHealth "mafia," composed of the executive committee, stole some P15 billion through fraudulent schemes. -NB, GMA News