PhilHealth employees want Duterte to appoint caretaker to oversee agency

Employees of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) have called on President Rodrigo Duterte to appoint a temporary chief to oversee the state insurer while its top officials are under investigation for supposed fraud and corrupt practices.

According to PhilHealth Workers for Hope, Integrity, Transparency, and Empowerment (PhilHealth-WHITE), the state insurer should be led by someone with a background on health insurance, and a clean record.

"[W]e nonetheless call for President Rodrigo Duterte to put in charge a caretaker who is an expert in the field of health insurance with proven integrity and incorruptibility—someone who is not himself or herself under investigation. Someone devoid of vested interest," it was quoted as saying in Victoria Tulad's report on GMA's "24 Oras Weekend" on Sunday.

The group opposed, however, that PhilHealth be overseen by its chairman, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

"Subject din siya ng several investigations. he's not doing anything right now, as far as we know. Wala kaming nakikita eh. Hindi nga nag-issue ng statement ano bang nangyayari sa PhilHealth," said PhilHealth-WHITE national president Maria Fe Francisco.

PhilHealth is now facing investigations after three officials resigned just last month over alleged corrupt practices in the agency.

One of them, anti-fraud legal officer Thorrsson Montes Keith, on Tuesday said the PhilHealth "mafia" pocketed some P15 billion from fraudulent schemes.

"I wouldn't call it mafia, no. Corruption comes in many forms eh. Even doon sa interim reimbursement mechanism, the intention is ano, is there, is good, pero naabuso," said Francisco.

"In social media we have been based. 'Yung iba ayaw nang magsuot ng uniform. Feeling nila masama ang tingin ng tao sa kanila," she added.

For his part, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque also said PhilHealth officials are under investigation over the agency's alleged overpriced purchase of an information technology system worth over P2 billion.

According to Roque, the investigation will be headed by Undersecretary Jesus Melchor Quitain of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President.

Just last week, PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Ricardo Morales said some P10.2 billion could have been lost to fraud in 2019, and that this could double to P18 billion by next year.

PhilHealth acting senior vice president Nerissa Santiago last Tuesday also claimed that the insurer's actuarial life is now down to a year due to decreased collections and an expected increase in benefit payouts due to the coronavirus disease 2019.

Morales and executive vice president Arnel De Jesus last week disclosed their unfavorable medical conditions to the Senate ahead of the continuation of the legislative probe on the alleged irregularities within the agency scheduled this week. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA News