Whistleblowers in PhilHealth ghost claims mess ask for witness protection

The two former dialysis clinic employees who revealed an alleged ghost claims scheme involving PhilHealth funds have applied for witness protection, officials said Monday.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Undersecretary Markk Perete both confirmed that the Department of Justice received the application of Edwin Roberto and Leizel Santos de Leon last week.

Guevarra said the two applied for provision coverage under the DOJ's Witness Protection Program and that he has ordered the program to expedite the resolution of the application.

Roberto and De Leon were indicted for estafa through falsification of official documents along with Bryan Sy, one of the owners of WellMed Dialysis Center, where the two used to work as assistant manager and PhilHealth officer, respectively.

A prosecutor with the DOJ found that the WellMed officers "conspired in using falsified documents to collect payments from PhilHealth for alleged medical services to patients who were already dead."

The charges were filed before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court last June 17. 

Meanwhile, the inquest prosecutor referred the case against seven other respondents to the PhilHealth's estafa complaint—WellMed officers and employees—for preliminary investigation.

Former presidential spokesman Harry Roque, the whistleblowers' lawyer, said he hopes Roberto and De Leon would be turned into witnesses should a case be filed in court.

The two have also expressed willingness to be placed under witness protection. They said Sy had made threats against them over personal matters unrelated to the alleged PhilHealth scam. —NB, GMA News