PhilHealth whistleblowers out on bail

UNPROTECTED In this file photo taken on June 10, whistleblowers Edwin Roberto and Liezel Santos de Leon recount how their former employer, WellMed Dialysis Center, allegedly bilked millions of pesos from PhilHealth by making fraudulent dialysis claims for dead patients. —INQUIRER PHOTO

Former WellMed Dialysis Center employees Liezel Santos de Leon and Edwin Roberto, who blew the whistle on the company’s “ghost dialysis claims” from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.  (PhilHealth) were released on Monday after posting a P1.22-million bail, their lawyer Harry Roque said on Thursday.

The two lost coverage under the government’s Witness Protection Program when their case was transferred to a metropolitan trial court and considered a lesser crime.

Roque earlier said he intended to file a malversation case in the Office of the Ombudsman against WellMed officials, including Bryan Christopher Sy, and PhilHealth executives involved in the case.

Once the case is lodged before the Ombudsman, Roque said he would file for immunity for his clients.

The next hearing for their estafa case has been set for Oct. 21.—PATRICIA DENISE M. CHIU