MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III is set to meet with officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) within this week to discuss the budget and the latest issues within the agency, following fresh allegations of corruption in the insurance corporation.
“Meron silang scheduled meeting for this week. Si Secretary will be calling on a meeting within the week para pag-usapan itong IT (information technology) nila na issues, pati budget and other organizational issues as PhilHealth,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media forum on Monday.
(They have a scheduled meeting for this week. The Secretary will call a meeting within the week to discuss IT issues, budget and other organizational issues in PhilHealth.)
President Rodrigo Duterte has already ordered an investigation into the alleged irregularities in PhilHealth’s procurement of an information technology system that reportedly caused some heated exchanges in a virtual meeting of PhilHealth officials last Wednesday and prompted lawyer and anti-fraud legal officer Thorrsson Montes Keith to resign.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senator Panfilo Lacson have also sought a Senate investigation on the alleged rampant corruption within PhilHealth.
PhilHealth President Ricardo Morales earlier said Keith was only being “vengeful” after being denied a job post he had applied for. The agency also maintained it has “nothing to hide” and that it is ready to face the investigation on corruption allegations.