Complainants vs. Duque, brother over PhilHealth lease deal want their SALN, personal records

The complainants in the plunder case against Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and his brother, Gonzalo, over the PhilHealth lease deal have asked the Office of the Ombudsman to subpoena their wealth statements and other personal records.

In a six-page motion, complainants Ariel and Ruby Hedia; Darwin and Merlyn Bataan; Sonia Guerra; Liberty Garcia Ganzore; Raul and Elloly Galoso; Raymond Ancheta; Ma. Cecilia Torres; Danilo  and  Sheryl  Bautista; and, Edna Santos said Ombudsman Samuel Martires should subpoena the records of the Duque brothers from the Department of Health, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and Social Security System —government agencies where the brothers served as officials from 2001 to 2018.

The complainants were parents of the children who died after being injected with anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.  The plunder case their filed against the Duques had to do with the alleged anomalous lease deal that PhilHealth entered into with the Educational and Medical Development Corp. (EDMC) —a company where the brothers own a substantial amount of shares.

“We respectfully pray of this Honorable Body that a subpoena be sent to the following appropriate agencies, in which respondents Dr. Francisco T.  Duque IIII (as DOH Secretary, PhilHealth President and Chairperson), and Atty. Gonzalo  T.  Duque (as  SSS Commissioner and  one of PhilHealth ‘s Board of Directors), are appointed/designated as such respectively, for the production of their 2001 to 2018 Statement  of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, including their respective Personal Data Sheets (PDS) on file, to be investigated by this Honorable office to determine whether they declared the foregoing business interests that they have with EDMC in their SALN and if their appointment as Chairman and Member of the Board of Directors of PhilHealth are indicated in their respective PDS,” the complainants said.

“We also like to respectfully reiterate our prayer in our Joint Supplemental Complaint-Affidavit that all of the copies of the contracts of lease executed by EDMC for 20 years as admitted by Atty. Gonzalo T. Duque and PhilHealth be subpoenaed and investigated by this Honorable Office,” they added.

The complainants, who sued Duque last month, are alleging that Duque's brother  "conspired with respondent Dr. Duque to amass, acquire or accumulate ill-gotten wealth."

Gonzalo was a substantial stockholder and officer of EMDC, serving as president from 2000 to 2006; president/secretary from 2008 to 2010; president from 2011 to 2014 and chancellor from 2015 to 2018.

The complainants are accusing the Duque brothers of profiting off a contract that PhilHealth entered with EMDC  for the lease of a 2,051.40-square-meter building that will serve as PhilHealth’s regional office for Region 1, which they claimed was  worth P529,261.20 a month.

As Health chief, Duque sits as the chairperson of the PhilHealth board.

Duque earlier said the complaints were baseless and were just encouraged by Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Acosta.

“Kung may itanong ang Ombudsman, we will answer and file our comment accordingly. All of these are baseless accusations," Duque earlier said. —LDF, GMA News