Lizada claims CSC chair gave guidance to 'suppress' info on cases vs. PhilHealth execs

Commissioner Aileen Lizada of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) on Tuesday claimed that their chairperson, Alicia Bala, gave a guidance supposedly to suppress information regarding the cases lodged before the agency involving PhilHealth officials.

Lizada made the remark during the continuation of the House joint panel inquiry into the alleged irregularities at PhilHealth.

During the hearing, House Committee on Public Accounts chair Mike Defensor asked Lizada if there was a move within the CSC to suppress information shared with the inquiry. The panel was inquiring about the cases involving PhilHealth officials with the CSC.

"We had a meeting ever since lumabas yung memorandum ng Presidente. Right away we had a virtual meeting. Yes, sir, may guidance regarding yung concern niyo," Lizada told Defensor.

Asked to confirm who gave such guidance, Lizada said: "The chairperson."

"If my recollection serves me right, 'this information should not be made public nor should be given out to anyone who would be asking either in aid of legislation or investigation.' Parang ganun ang natandaan ko," she added when asked to state the supposed exact words of Bala.

Lizada claimed that there was an audio recording of the meeting that could show that Bala gave the guidance, although she said this was not stated in the minutes. She said this prompted her to prepare a memorandum seeking for the correction of the minutes of the meeting to reflect what was in the audio recording.

"Yun ang memo because when I read it, apparently it did not faithfully reproduce what was taken up during the meeting," Lizada said.

CSC Assistant Commissioner Ariel Ronquillo, however, refuted Lizada and denied that there was guidance from Bala to suppress information regarding the cases involving PhilHealth officials.

"Categorically, I will say that I did not hear that guidance being given by the chair," said Ronquillo, who was deputized by Bala to represent her in the hearing.

"I am present in all the commission meetings except if I am sent elsewhere. But usually I am present in the meetings, and in all the meetings that I have attended, I did not hear that kind of guidance given by the chairperson," he added.

Lizada then chimed in and "refreshed" Ronquillo's memory.

"When the chairman gave the guidance, ang kausap niya and the one you can hear sa recording ay is AsCom. Ronquillo. She mentioned about the policy na isama sa data sharing and it was AsCom. Ronquillo na kausap niya. And you can hear it from the audio tape, 'Yes, Ma'am, yes Ma'am,'" she said.

Ronquillo maintained his stance and said that the instruction from Bala was to keep the matter confidential, but could be shared with those who conduct investigations on the PhilHealth issue.

"Whether there is an order for the suppression of evidence, there was none. The instruction of the chair was to ensure that this matter will be kept confidential and not to be shared to the public, but will be shared if needed in any of the investigations being conducted concerning the PhilHealth," he said.

"So there was no guidance to suppress evidence. We just wanted to make sure that the matter will not go out of hand, sharing the same in public prematurely."

Following the contradicting statements from the two CSC officials, the House joint panel approved the motion to continue discussing the issue on the alleged guidance in their next hearing on Thursday and to invite Bala to attend to clarify the matter.

They also approved a motion to subpoena the audio recording as well as the minutes of the CSC meeting, and the listing of cases involving PhilHealth officials. —KBK, GMA News