Lacson: There’s sufficient proof to fire PhilHealth execs but ball is with President

SEN. Panfilo Lacson said there was sufficient basis for President Rodrigo Duterte to remove officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) allegedly involved in rampant corruption in the state-run insurer.

The senator based his assessment on the ongoing Senate investigation on the reported anomalies in PhilHealth such as the questionable interim reimbursement mechanism (IRM) that facilitated the P14.7 billion cash advance to hospitals treating coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients and the P2.1 billion overpriced and repeated procurement of IT (information technology) equipment.

PhilHealth President and Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Morales said it was “impossible” to weed out corruption in the agency within a year because the state-run insurer “is not perfect.”

When reminded that the President had vowed to remove government officials who will be linked even in a “whiff of corruption,” Lacson said, “Tama. Kaunting amoy lang. Hindi lang amoy ito. Umaalingasaw ito eh (That’s right. Just a whiff [of corruption]. This is not just a whiff. It stinks).”

In a radio interview on Thursday Lacson said “yes” when asked whether there was sufficient basis for Duterte to remove alleged unscrupulous PhilHealth offcials.

“The problem is he (Duterte) was waiting for the recommendation from the task force he created [to probe the PhilHealth scandal,” he said in Filipino.

“At nagpahayag siya may trust and confidence siya kay Gen Morales (And he expressed trust and confidence to [retired] Gen. Morales),” Lacson said.

He said that was what happened to the Senate investigation on reported unabated smuggling in the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and the inquiry on the alleged conflict of interest of Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd in his family-owned medical supply business.

“We cannot do anything because the power to hire and fire is with the President,” Lacson said in mixed Filipino and English.

Source: TheManila Times