Solons may file raps vs. individuals involved in alleged PhilHealth anomalies

Some congressmen, in their personal capacity, may file charges against those involved in the alleged anomalies in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) which were unearthed during the lower chamber's investigation, House committee on public accounts chairperson Mike Defensor said Friday.

"Puwede ho naming gawin ito individually...Ito po ay gagawin namin individually dahil nga ho, as a body, as a Congress, as a committee, hindi naman po pwede naming gawin," Defensor said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

"Ito na po ang pagkakataon na i-approve namin itong report na ito at mag-file kami ng kaso sa karapat-dapat na file-an ng kaso. Ito pong pag-aaral namin kung binasa po ninyo wala kaming itinago, wala kaming kinilingan, at talagang inilabas namin 'yung mga problema sa loob ng PhilHealth," he added.

Defensor said one of the biggest issues covered by the draft committee report is the alleged anomalous settlement involving PhilHealth and the Cardinal Santos Medical Center wherein P170 million worth of state health insurer's funds were supposedly lost.

"Ang pinakamalaking kaso po dito 'yung Cardinal Santos Medical Center... Ang nakalagay dito sa draft report ay syndicated estafa pero sa aking paniwala at sa pananaw ng marami sa komite, eh pumapasok po ito sa problema ng plunder," he said.

"May members ng board, ang iba dito parent Cabinet secretaries na talaga naman pong—hindi ko sinasabing may corruption sila, nagkataon pumirma sila. Pinayagan nila... so siyempre hindi naman natin maisasantabi na lamang," he added, without mentioning specific names.

Aside from the House investigation, the Senate also made a parallel probe on the irregularities in the state health insurer and recommended the filing of charges against executives involved, including former PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales and PhilHealth Board chairperson Francisco Duque III.

A separate task force led by the Department of Justice also recommended criminal and administrative charges against several PhilHealth officials—a move that has been approved by President Rodrigo Duterte.—AOL, GMA News