MANILA, Philippines – Senator Christopher “Bong” Go urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to strengthen and refile the case against the owner and officers of WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Center, which was implicated in the alleged fraudulent claims with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
“Di na dapat magpatuloy ang anomalya sa PhilHeath (Anomalies within PhilHealth must stop),” Go, chairman of the Senate Health Committee, said during his opening statement on Wednesday’s hearing into allegations of corruption in the state health insurance agency.
“Dapat managot ang dapat managot sa kaso ng Wellmed, I urge the DOJ to refile the case to the appropriate court at palakasin pa ang kaso para siguradong may mapaparusahan (Someone should be held accountable and punished, I urge the DOJ to refile and strengthen the case before the appropriate court),” he added.
The Quezon City Regional Trial Court earlier dismissed the criminal complaint against WellMed for lack of jurisdiction, saying that it was filed with the wrong court.
READ: QC court dismisses case vs WellMed officials for ‘lack of jurisdiction’
This developed after the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported in June that WellMed collected payments from PhilHealth for “ghost” dialysis treatments of deceased patients or those who have stopped undergoing dialysis.
READ: PhilHealth pays for ghost kidney treatments
Go also lamented the continuing anomalous activities within the PhilHealth, even after previous investigations conducted at the Senate.
“Matagal na pong issue ito. Noon pang 2015, naghearing na ang Blue Ribbon tungkol sa fraudulent claims. Subalit hanggang ngayon, patuloy ang mga illegal na gawain sa Philhealth,” Go further said.
“Tuwing mayroong anomalya o kontrobersya puro rason, puro palusot ang naririnig natin. Ang gustong marinig ng taong bayan, solusyon naman,” he added. /gsg