Gierran asked senior PhilHealth execs to resign —Palace

Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) president Dante Gierran has asked senior executives of the state health insurer to submit their courtesy resignations as part of a reorganization process, Malacañang said Friday.

Interviewed on Dobol B sa News TV, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said although he has yet to see Gierran's memorandum, he was able to confirm it from three sources.

"Bagamat hindi ko pa nakikita yang memo, nakatanggap na po ako ng tatlong kumpirmasyon na hinihingi nga po ni president ng PhilHealth ngayon yung courtesy resignation ng lahat ng Salary [Grade] 26, kabahagi na po diyan yung mga vice presidents diyan sa PhilHealth," he said.

Roque said the memo covers vice president and senior vice president positions.

Gierran, a lawyer and accountant who formerly headed the National Bureau of Investigation, has been tasked by President Rodrigo Duterte to fix the alleged irregularities in the agency within the year.

Roque said those who are not involved in corruption need not fear Gierran's order.

"Yung mga walang pananagutan, yung mga hindi nangurakot, wala dapat ikatakot dahil alam ko naman po na yung desisyon ni Attorney Gierran kung sino ang mananatili ay ibabase niya sa ebidensiya," he said.

Fastest way

In an interview with CNN Philippines earlier in the day, Roque said Gierran probably things asking the senior officials to resign is "the fastest way that he can reorganize" PhilHealth.

“Attorney Gierran knows that he does not have much time. And that’s why I think it was important for him to request that all the senior executives file their courtesy resignations because that’s the fastest way that he can reorganize,”  Roque said.

“We’re confident though that he will have very good information that would guide him on whose resignation to accept. I hope too that he will be guided by the Senate findings as well as the findings of Task Force PhilHealth,” he added.

Duterte earlier ordered the filing of charges against former PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales and other officials linked by an inter-agency task force to irregularities in the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM), procurement of ICT equipment, and policy for accountability.

Smaller teams with members from different government agencies are still pursuing investigations specifically into PhilHealth's legal and IT sectors and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra recently said that more people may be implicated as a result.

The Senate has also pushed for the filing of charges against Health Secretary Francisco Duque III over the IRM.

Abolition, privatization

Early this week, Duterte indicated that he would ask Congress to abolish PhilHealth. Gierran, however, is against privatizing PhilHealth, arguing that it will send a “wrong signal” that government officials and employees cannot be trusted.

Roque said he agrees with Gierran.

“I do not agree with privatization because privatization goes against the very principle of universal healthcare,” the Palace official told CNN Philippines.

A measure authorizing the President to reorganize PhilHealth, including the privatization of its segments, to make it more effective in delivering services to the public, was filed at the House of Representatives in August.  —KBK, GMA News