Duque, other execs not yet cleared over PhilHealth mess —Guevarra

Investigators are not yet clearing Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and other board members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) of wrongdoing over corruption at the state insurer, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Thursday.

Guevarra said the task force that investigated PhilHealth did not see enough evidence against Duque to recommend him to be charged in connection with its "preliminary" findings.

But they are not yet ruling out liability on the part of Duque and other board members as they dig deeper into the allegations, he said in an interview on CNN Philippines.

The Guevarra-led Task Force PhilHealth has so far found irregularities in the state insurer's Interim Reimbursement Mechanism, procurement of ICT equipment, and policy for accountability.

Smaller teams of investigators are still looking specifically into PhilHealth's legal and IT sectors and Guevarra earlier said more people may be charged as a result.

"We have only focused our attention on these areas and insofar as Sec. Duque is concerned we have not seen enough evidence that would make us recommend that he be charged administratively or criminally," he said.

"But it doesn’t mean to say that when we conduct further investigations, when we go more deeply into the evidence or other transactions or other areas of fraud, we are absolutely and totally exonerating the Secretary or the other members of the board. It all depends on what we may see further in the future," he added.

At a Malacañang briefing, Guevarra said that President Rodrigo Duterte's statement that he fully trusts Duque did not at all affect their investigation.

"As I repeatedly said before, we will only go by the evidence presented before us. So kung meron kaming makita, so be it. Kung wala naman, wala," he said.  "Pero kung meron, meron... we'll include him and probably the rest of the board if need be."

Guevarra explained that Duque is "not a standalone figure" in PhilHealth, being the non-voting chairman of a collegial board of directors, and thus cannot be "isolated like any other executive officer of the board."

Senate President Vicente Sotto III earlier said he was surprised by Duque's non-inclusion in the list of officials implicated by the task force.

The Senate conducted its own investigation into alleged anomalies at PhilHealth. The House of Representatives also had a separate inquiry.

Asked about differences in the findings of the task force and of the Senate, Guevarra said it was possible that the two bodies received different pieces of evidence and evaluated these differently.

He said the DOJ makes sure that the complaints it will file are supported by evidence.

On Duque, Guevarra added that he believes the Health chief might have "spread himself too thinly" across his many responsibilities.

"Kaya in the case of PhilHealth, baka the proper attention due to PhilHealth might not have been given precisely because the Secretary of Health has been spread too thinly," he said.

However, Guevarra said this is not an excuse.

"But that’s not really an excuse. Sayang dahil PhilHealth is a very important agency or corporation of the government and I believe that more attention, especially in the light of so many anomalies or irregularities being reported, should have been given by the secretary and the members of the board to PhilHealth," he said.

Duque said he was never negligent of his task as chairman of PhilHealth's board.

“I can say, I was not negligent. I did not ignore, I did not neglect my duties and responsibilities as chairman of the board. It’s just that really the President has declared a state of public health emergency in February and I have been chair by way of executive order. I have been assigned or tasked to head the inter-agency task force,” he explained.

Guevarra said he agrees with proposals to replace the chairman of the PhilHealth board with a person who is not the Health secretary.

He explained that PhilHealth is more an insurance provider than a health institution, hence the need for its leaders to have expertise in management and finance.

"I can agree with the proposal na i-replace 'yung Secretary of Health as chair of the board — not because it’s Secretary Duque, but because of the nature of the functions of the institution itself," he said.—AOL, GMA News