Lacson: Task Force PhilHealth ‘put into good use’ Senate findings

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday said the Senate findings on alleged irregularities in PhilHealth has been put into good use by the Justice Department-led task force which already recommended the filing of charges against several executives of the state health insurer.

Lacson, who exposed PhilHealth's questionable cash advances and alleged overpricing of IT equipment during the Senate hearings last month, deferred commenting on the fact that the task force did not implicate Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in the mess.

"I want to read the full text of the report first so I can make a more intelligent analysis and responsive comments," he said in a statement.

"Let me just say at the outset that obviously, the materials that we provided and shared with Sec. [Menardo] Guevarra and the composite task force were put into good use at the very least," he added.

On Monday night, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendations of the DOJ-led task force to file criminal and administrative charges against several PhilHealth executives in connection with alleged irregularities.

Among those who will be slapped with charges are resigned PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales, Senior Vice President (SVP) Jovita Aragona, Officer in Charge Calixto Gabuya Jr., SVP Renato Limsiaco Jr., SVP Israel Pargas, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Arnel de Jesus, and Division Chief Bobby Crisostomo.

For Lacson, it is "good reason enough" to feel gratified that the Senate did its share in taking the "first big step" in putting to justice those liable for the misuse and abuse of public funds.

"At least, for a change, we can hope that these 'vultures' will suffer for their misdeeds to satisfy their greed at the expense of the sick and the unhealthy among our countrymen," he said.

Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, chairperson of the Senate committee on health, commended the task force for its evidence-based report.

"Inaasahan kong tututukan din ng DOJ ang pagsasampa ng mga kaukulang kaso at siguraduhing mahatulan at makulong ang mga nagkasala. Hindi pwedeng hanggang imbestigasyon lang tayo, kailangan may agarang aksyon at may makulong," he said in a message.

Go added that the new leadership of PhilHealth, now headed by former National Bureau of Investigation director Dante Gierran, would use the task force's findings for its "internal cleansing."

'Disappointed'

Meanwhile, opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros expressed disappointment that Duque was let off the hook and asked the DOJ to "check again."

"While I respect the DOJ Panel, I am disappointed. The Senate, as a whole, came to an important conclusion: kasama si Sec. Duque sa mga kailangang managot," she said in a separate message.

"Kung totoong naniniwala tayo na karapatan ng bawat Pilipino ang kalusugan, kung totoong naniniwala tayo na karapatan ng taumbayan ang magkaroon ng malinis na gobyerno, isasama natin si Secretary Duque sa charges," she added.

The Senate report generated through over 28 hours of hearings on alleged irregularities in PhilHealth recommended that Duque, as chair of the state insurer's board, be charged over the "improper and illegal" implementation of the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM).

Earlier in the day, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he was dumbfounded that Duque was spared by the task force.

Amid the PhilHealth controversies and dissatisfaction aired by critics against the government's pandemic response, Duterte still expressed his full trust in Duque.

The Health chief, for his part, has denied involvement in the implementation of the controversial IRM but Hontiveros renewed her call for him to step down.

"Kahit kaunting delikadesa sa taumbayan: I strongly suggest that Duque resign," she said. — RSJ, GMA News