Senators perusing Committee of the Whole report on PhilHealth —Lacson

The Senate Committee of the Whole's investigation report on alleged PhilHealth anomalies was being routed among the senators for their signatures, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Monday.

Lacson, who presented several exposés during the panel's hearings this month, said that he had read the findings and his signature could be considered affixed.

"Base doon sa nalalaman ko, marami nang nag-affix ng signature... Kailangan at least 13 ang nakapirma para maging valid na committee report," he said in an online interview.

"Ako I'm more than satisfied kasi magkakatulong naman kami lahat diyan noong binabalangkas 'yan," he added.

Lacson refrained from baring the recommendations of the committee so as not to pre-empt Senate President Vicente Sotto's report on the Senate floor on Tuesday. Sotto said the document was 87-pages long.

The senator also expected that the PhilHealth officials involved in the alleged anomalies would be brought to justice as soon as possible.

"From where we sit now, maganda 'yung prospects kasi ngayon lang naman yung after so many investigations, ngayon lang nag-resign 'yung top officials... Si [PhilHealth senior vice president for legal sector] Atty. [Rodolfo] Del Rosario, for example, nobody naman told him to resign pero he tendered his irrevocable resignation," he said.

PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales, battling lymphoma, had also resigned from his post.

Further, Lacson said he could see that Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra was determined to get to the bottom of the alleged corruption in the state health insurer.

He added that President Rodrigo Duterte also supported the PhilHealth cleansing effort.

"Ang problema rito, pag tumagal na ang panahon baka tulad ng mga nangyari noong una, nakakalimutan. So, call na 'yan ng prosecution service, ng DOJ o ng Ombudsman kung ma-refer sa kanila, and then ng courts," Lacson said.

"I hope di maulit ang mga nakaraang exposé na hanggang ngayon wala tayong nakitang nanagot," he added.

Meanwhile, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee report on PhilHealth irregularities that were investigated last year has yet to be routed, according to Lacson.

Earlier, he said he was inclined to sign only one report if the two panels' findings contradicted each other.

Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairperson Richard Gordon, in a chairman's report, recommended the removal of all PhilHealth regional vice presidents whom he claimed had benefited from fraudulent claims.

But Lacson said some regional vice presidents were actually the source of evidence presented during the recent Senate hearings. — DVM, GMA News