Go: PhilHealth needs institutional reforms

SEN. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go stressed the need for institutional reforms at the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to solve graft and corruption in the state-run firm.

Go, chairman of the Senate health and demography committee, also proposed the preventive suspension of PhilHealth officials accused of committing fraud to protect the integrity of the investigation to be conducted by the task force led by the Department of Justice (DoJ).

“I think, ang problema dito, hindi makakagalaw ng maayos ang investigative bodies natin dahil nasa pwesto pa rin ang mga suspects pero hindi sila matatanggal at magkaroon ng preventive suspension (I think, the problem here is that the investigative bodies cannot act properly because the suspects are still in their posts and they’re neither fired nor suspended),” said Go, chairman of the Senate health and demography committee.

The senator also proposed studying existing policies and possibly amending the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees to allow preventive suspension prior to the start of an investigation to remove any undue influence.

When questioned by the senator during the resumption of the investigation by the Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, PhilHealth President Ricardo Morales, in a videoconference, assured the agency’s cooperation in providing all relevant data and information needed during the inquiry.

Morales also expressed openness in having PhilHealth officials submit themselves to lifestyle checks and other forms of government investigation.

“[President Morales], continue working and cooperate please with the investigation of the task force. Tulungan niyo po (Help them). I know you mean well. Nilagay kayo diyan ng Pangulo para linisin ang PhilHealth. Halos taon-taon tayong nag iimbestiga dito at wala pa rin pong nangyayari. Dapat talaga meron masuspindi at ma-audit lahat (You were appointed by the President to clean PhilHealth. We investigate almost every year but nothing has come out of it. Somebody has to be suspended and they shall be subjected to audit,” said Go.

Go, in 2019, requested the Commission on Audit (CoA) to conduct a special audit on PhilHealth’s funds and submit its findings to the Office of the Ombudsman.

CoA chairman Michael Aguinaldo said efforts by the government’s audit firm have been delayed by the quarantine measures that were enforced due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, which prevented access to PhilHealth’s files.

Source: TheManila Times