Arroyo rewarded Duque with DOH seat after ‘Plan 5M,’ says Lacson

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III got the top post in the Department of Health (DOH) 15 years ago after PhilHealth's Plan Five Million helped ensure the "victory" of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the 2004 elections, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Wednesday.

"In 2004, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III was PhilHealth president when it illegally diverted P500 million in OWWA Medicare funds to buy PhilHealth cards bearing ex-President and then presidential candidate Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s picture with the acronym GMA (Greater Medical Access) and GMA Para sa Masa, Para sa Lahat," Lacson, also a candidate for President during that elections, said in a statement.

"The cards were distributed to areas where they knew they would lose against the late Fernando Poe Jr. After her 2004 'victory,' Mrs. Arroyo rewarded PhilHealth president Duque with an appointment as DOH Secretary," he added.

Lacson even retweeted his old post about the Plan Five Million to "refresh the Filipinos' short memory."

Just to refresh the Filipinos’ short memory — https://t.co/q4flK2Fclk

— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) August 19, 2020

GMA News Online sought Duque's comment on Lacson's remark but he has yet to respond as of posting time.

Duque was the PhilHealth president when five million PhilHealth cards were distributed nationwide. He first became Secretary of Health from 2005 to 2010.

On Tuesday, PhilHealth vice president Dennis Adre, who has been with the state insurer since 1998, claimed that the said project—aimed to boost Arroyo—led to the financial troubles of the corporation due to unpaid premiums.

Duque, now chairman of the PhilHealth Board, strongly denied the allegation.

"The five million [is] not in connection with the allegations of Mr. Dennis Adre but the five million was distributed based on the executive order then of President GMA and so there is no correlation between the Philhealth program and the elections," he said.

"Cases were filed against us and they were all dismissed by Ombudsman [Conchita] Morales," he added.

'Dismiss the doctor'

Lacson lamented that until now, PhilHealth has been marred with corruption and "perverted" projects.

He said Duque has overstayed in DOH and PhilHealth.

"More than public interest, public health is imperiled with Sec. Duque at the helm of DOH. Notwithstanding the trust and confidence reposed on him by the appointing authority, Filipinos deserve a good, competent, honest and capable DOH Secretary," Lacson said.

Senator Grace Poe, daughter of FPJ, said PhilHealth is now experiencing a "corporate version of a multi-organ failure" because of several unaddressed problems in the past.

"You can actually draw a line that connects PhilHealth’s present travails to the same scandals which erupted during Duque’s watch from 2001-2010. 'Yung problema noon, 'yun pa rin ang problema ngayon," she said.

"This leaves us with one prescription: to save the patient, we must dismiss the doctor," she added.

Duque has been tagged by a whistleblower as the "godfather" of the so-called mafia within PhilHealth but he said the allegation was malicious and baseless. —LDF, GMA News