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Most of PhilHealth execs already signed bank secrecy waiver —spokesperson


Several top officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) have already signed a waiver to allow the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to check their bank accounts.

“Nag-sign kami ng waiver kahapon. Most of the ExeCom (Executive Committee) members,” PhilHealth spokesperson Shirley Domingo said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV on Saturday.

“Isa ako doon sa nag-sign eh,” she said.

During a House committee hearing on the alleged corruption and anomalies in the state insurer, PhilHealth’s Jovita Aragona, Renato Limsiaco Jr., Israel Pargas, and Nerissa Santiago answered in the affirmative when asked if they are willing to sign a waiver to let the AMLC look into their bank transactions. 

They are PhilHealth's senior vice presidents for information management, fund management, and health finance policy, and acting senior vice president for actuarial services, respectively.

At least five other officials participating in the inquiry over video conference also answered in the affirmative. They are vice presidents Oscar Abadu, Shirley Domingo, and Gilda Diaz; Visayas area vice president Walter Bacareza, and corporate secretary Jonathan Mangaoang.

Asked if PhilHealth president and CEO Ricardo Morales also signed the bank secrecy waiver, Domingo said she does not have information on the matter.

However, she said Morales as well as other high-ranking officials of the state health insurer have already announced their willingness to undergo lifestyle check by any government agency to disprove allegations of corruption.

Resigned PhilHealth anti-fraud officer Thorsson Montes Keith claimed that the PhilHealth "mafia," composed of the executive committee, stole some P15 billion through fraudulent schemes, including those involving the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM).

PhilHealth, in a statement, has since denied such claims.

The agency and its officials are also under investigation over the agency's alleged overpriced purchase of an information technology system worth over P2 billion. —KG, GMA News

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