COA exec bucks PhilHealth's refusal to submit documents for audit

The Commission on Audit (COA) on Tuesday said it has been having a hard time checking the records of the state health insurer for its non-submission of required documents on time.

During a Senate hearing, Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri raised a concern on reports that the National Bureau of Investigation is having a hard time accessing the state insurer's books in line with the ongoing investigation of the executive branch.

COA director Cleotilde Tuazon said it has been the problem of the commission with PhilHealth "ever since."

"'Yan po ang naging problem namin actually sa PhilHealth, they refuse to give documents. Actually, 'yan po ang naging basis ng qualification namin ng opinion kung bakit disclaimer ang opinion na ibinigay namin sa kanila, because they did not give us the documents and we were not also given full access of the system," Tuazon said.

"It was only late, late na. May na po noong nabigyan kami, in which case tapos na ’yung audit period namin and we're in the process na of preparing the Audit Observation Memorandum and the drafting of the report,” she added.

Citing a COA report in 2018, Tuazon said it was observed that Philhealth was not submitting documents to support the contracts that they entered into.

"In fact, may finding pa kami doon, na may nabayaran sila na hindi nabigay sa amin ang documents," she added.

Tuazon further said she gave "additional time" to PhilHealth but they still failed to submit pertinent documents.

Zubiri said he is quite convinced that a mafia is indeed protecting something from being uncovered.

"Mapapamura ka ng pucha, magagalit ka talagang pu@#&* talaga dahil sa nangyayaring ito, pera ng taong bayan ito, para sa mahihirap," he said.

PhilHealth senior vice president Renato Limsiaco Jr., on the other hand, said the COA was  already given enough access to records.

"Year 2019 po nabigyan na po sila ng access. 'Yung sinabi po na mga dokumento na binigyan po kami ng pagkakataon, those are documents po sa mga regional offices po natin. During that time nahirapan po ang regional offices na magpadala sa central office dahil sa maiksing panahon," he said.

During the same hearing, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, tagged by a whistleblower as a "godfather" of the PhilHealth mafia, belied allegations that the corporation lost some P154 billion over the years over fraudulent claims.

"I have clarified this before the Blue Ribbon Committee last year; but I will repeat it to set the record straight: There is no such thing as a P154 billion loss," he said.

He added that a letter from COA chairperson Michael Aguinaldo, dated June 10, 2020, confirmed that there is no such finding in the published annual audit reports of the commission.—LDF, GMA News