Lacson, Gordon don’t see sufficient evidence to indict Duque over PhilHealth mess

At least two senators expressed reservations on Wednesday if the evidence against Health Secretary Francisco Duque III would hold water to file criminal charges against him in connection with the PhilHealth controversies.

Senator Panfilo Lacson said he thinks the evidence gathered during the three Senate hearings would not be sufficient to implicate Duque in the "improper and illegal" implementation of the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism.

"Ang PhilHealth Board na pinangungunahan niya dahil siya ang ex-officio chairman, walang hand sa implementation ng illegal disbursement under IRM. Wala ring hand ang Board sa pag-procure ng overpriced IT equipment," he said in a radio interview.

Nonetheless, Lacson recognized that Senate President Vicente Sotto III may have seen other evidence that he did not notice and acknowledged that the Senate, as a collegial body, would always abide by the rule of the majority.

"Kaya ako, pag nag-interpellate ako ika-clarify ko lang 'yan kung anong basehan na bakit kasama si Secretary Duque sa recommendation na file-an din ng malversation, anti-graft and corrupt practices act, and so forth," he said.

Command responsibility

Lacson said administrative charges may be filed against Duque if command responsibility would be considered.

"Pwede siyang masaklaw ng administrative case kung may mapapatunayan na meron siyang negligence or in-abuse niya ang kanyang position," he said.

Senator Richard Gordon also supported the Committee of the Whole's report but said he has only one reservation which involves the implication of Duque.

"I always want to be fair... I have a copy here, he was being blamed for the IRM mess. In truth and in fact, he was never there. He did not participate, he was absent," Gordon said in a separate interview on ANC.

"We must be seen as fair, we must be seen as complete but firm. But if there are other things that they can charge him with, then they will have to come up with something. In my view, whenever I make any accusation, I make sure there's a piece of paper that supports it," he added.

The Senate Committee of the Whole recommended that Duque, former PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales, and several other executives be slapped with criminal charges over the alleged irregularities in the state health insurer.

Duque, on the other hand, denied that he had a hand on the implementation of the IRM.

“As a non-voting Chairman under the Universal Health Care Law, it is unfortunate that I was impleaded in the alleged IRM irregularities when I was not even present during the deliberation nor did I sign the Board Resolution,” he said.

The senators will continue the deliberations on the panel's committee report at the Senate floor on Wednesday afternoon. — RSJ, GMA News