Duterte ordered reshuffle of PhilHealth regional VPs —Palace

Malacañang on Tuesday said President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a reshuffle of regional vice presidents of the embattled Philippine Health Insurance Corporation. (PhilHealth). 

Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque issued the statement after the President directed new PhilHealth chief Dante Gierran to remove the regional vice presidents as part of government efforts to rid the state insurer of corruption.

“Malinaw po ang sabi ni Presidente, basta sa mga regional vice presidents, wala po siyang pinapasibak. Pinapa-reshuffle,” Roque said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV. 

“Wala pong instruction to remove. I-reshuffle [po ang order],” the presidential spokesperson also said in a midday briefing on Tuesday.

“Malinaw po iyong konteksto. Familiarity breeds contempt, kaya ililipat. So as not to breed familiarity,” Roque added.

Gierran, in a separate interview on ANC on Tuesday, also confirmed that he will implement a reorganization in the state insurer and examine its financial status.

The President gave the order to reshuffle PhilHealth’s regional vice presidents amid the ongoing probe by Congress and the Justice department into alleged corruption involving the PhilHealth fund. 

Whistleblower Thorsson Montes Keith, former PhilHealth anti-fraud legal officer, revealed that members of the PhilHealth executive committee pocketed some P15 billion in funds through several fraudulent schemes. PhilHealth denied the allegation.

Retired Army general and former PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales and other PhilHealth officials also denied involvement in corruption. 

Morales on Tuesday also pointed his fingers at hospitals and other professionals regarding corruption involving the state health insurer's fund, saying investigators are "looking at the wrong way."

Commission on Audit records, however, have shown that PhilHealth has only been able to liquidate P1 billion of the P15 billion worth of Internal Reimbursement Mechanism funds that it released to hospitals and health care facilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Morales resigned as PhilHealth president last week after Duterte said it would be best for him to go due to his unstable health condition. 

Duterte announced the appointment of Gierran, a former director of the National Bureau of Investigation, as the new PhilHealth president on Monday. —With a report from Llanesca T. Panti/KG, GMA News