Duterte appoints ex-PhilHealth chief as DOH assistant secretary

MANILA, Philippines—President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed former Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) acting president Roy Ferrer as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health (DOH).

Ferrer was among those appointed this month along with several others, according to a list of presidential appointees released Monday.

Ferrer resigned from PhilHealth in June 2019 following controversies hounding the state insurance firm, involving the alleged funding of bogus dialysis treatment for patients who are already died.

READ: PhilHealth pays for ghost kidney treatments

The President, however, had cleared Ferrer of any wrongdoing as he “(did) not have the slightest doubt about the integrity and honesty” of the official.

The list of new appointees include former IBC president Katherine “Kat” De Castro who was appointed board director at the People’s Television Network, Inc; Atty. Lorna Kapunan who was named Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) board member; and DOH spokesperson Eric Domingo who was appointed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) director-general after serving as it’s officer-in-charge since May 2019.

GSG

Read more...