NBI files raps vs. Philhealth execs over IRM cash advances

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has filed graft and malversation complaints against officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) over alleged anomalies in the state insurer's Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM).

Resigned PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Arnel De Jesus, Senior Vice Presidents Renato Limsiaco, Jr. and Israel Francis Pargas and five others face a complaint filed Friday before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the respondents are accused of violations of Sections 3(e) and 3(i) of the anti-graft law; sections 251, 255, and 272 of the National Internal Revenue Code, section 4 of Republic Act No. 1051; and malversation of public funds or property. 

The complaint was in connection with the "questionable grant of advances to a number of healthcare institutions in the National Capital Region pursuant to the interim reimbursement mechanism provided for under PhilHealth Circular No. 2020-0007," according to a letter signed by Justice Undersecretary Adrian Sugay and addressed to Ombudsman Samuel Martires.

"More complaints will be filed in the next few days/weeks against erring PhilHealth personnel and their cohorts," Guevarra said in a message to reporters.

The IRM is a system under which PhilHealth grants financial assistance to healthcare providers in case of "fortuitous events."

In its report to President Rodrigo Duterte, the DOJ-led task force that investigated alleged corruption at PhilHealth found that IRM fund releases were "rushed" even before its implementing circular was not yet effective.

The task force also said that the IRM was "implemented without sufficient standards and guidelines, making fund releases susceptible to abuse."

In addition, the task force said IRM funds were released even without monitoring mechanisms and without taxes being withheld.

The IRM was only one of the areas that the task force looked into -- investigators likewise found irregularities in the state insurer's procurement of IT equipment and in its policies for holding erring officials and healthcare institutions accountable.

Composite teams are continuing their investigations into other PhilHealth divisions, including the legal sector.

The task force had recommended graft charges against Morales, De Jesus, Limsiaco, Senior Vice President Jovita Aragona, Officer-in-Charge Calixto Gabuya, Jr., and Division Chief Bobby Crisostomo. -NB, GMA News