Solon wants Morales placed under hospital arrest

ACT-CIS party-list Representative Jocelyn Tulfo is calling for the hospital arrest of former PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales following a task force recommendation that charges be filed against him and other agency executives in connection with irregularities in the state insurer.

"I say he should be placed under hospital arrest," Tulfo said of Morales, who earlier resigned as PhilHealth chief while he was on medical leave due to lymphoma.

Morales had stepped down from his position after Duterte reportedly said it would be better for him to quit his post given his ill health.

"Frankly, I have no pity for him. Perhaps his situation now is what he deserves," Tulfo added. "If he succumbs before he could be held criminally liable for what has happened to PhilHealth, then he is getting the merciful way out."

President Rodrigo Duterte approved the task force's recommendation that criminal and administrative charges be filed against Morales over the PhilHealth mess.

Among those who will also be charged criminally and administratively are Senior Vice President (SVP) Jovita Aragona, Officer in Charge Calixto Gabuya Jr., SVP Renato Limsiaco Jr., SVP Israel Pargas, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Arnel de Jesus, and Division Chief Bobby Crisostomo.

But Tulfo said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who serves as ex-officio chairman of the PhilHealth board, should also be held accountable and liable over the irregularities at PhilHealth.

"We do not merely want him out of PhilHealth. He should be investigated by the Ombudsman for the anomalies that have plagued PhilHealth long before the COVID-19 pandemic," she said.

"Secretary Duque is shrewd, but he cannot keep fooling the Filipino people. This COVID-19 pandemic has worn him down and has exposed the financial mess buried within PhilHealth," she added.

Meanwhile, Bagong Henerasyon party-list Representative Bernadette Herrera called for the issuance of a hold departure order on the officials found liable over the irregularities at PhilHealth.

She said the process leading to immigration watchlists, HDOs and INTERPOL red notices should be set in motion for the PhilHealth executives “so that when time comes for formalities to be done, actions will be swift.” — DVM, GMA News