MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation has created a task force to investigate the allegations of corruption now hounding the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
NBI officer-in-charge Eric Distor said Thursday he has issued a memorandum order creating Task Force – PhilHealth that will investigate various allegations of anomalies in the state insurance firm.
According to Distor, the investigation will include the auditing of PhilHealth expenses and a lifestyle check on its officials and employees.
“Considering that the NBI is still conducting an investigation on alleged Philhealth anomalies, the creation of a task force on this matter will certainly help intensify and hasten the investigation,” he said in a statement.
Task Force – PhilHealth will be composed of agents and investigators from the NBI’s Anti-Graft Division, Anti-Fraud Division, Special Action Unit, Computer Crimes Division, Special Operations Group, and Digital Forensic Laboratory.
It will be headed by NBI-National Capital Region Director Cesar Bacani and will be under the supervision of Deputy Director for Regional Operations Service Antonio Pagatpat to be assisted by Deputy Director for Investigation Service Vicente De Guzman III.
The task force will also coordinate with the Department of Justice on the progress of the investigation, said the NBI chief.
To recall, the NBI investigated Philhealth in 2019 regarding the ghost dialysis fees involving WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Center Corp.
The investigation found that WellMed charges Philhealth for dialysis claims of patients who are already dead.
Following the investigation, the NBI recommended the prosecution of WellMed officials and Philhealth officials who allegedly conspired in using falsified documents to collect payments from the state insurer for the supposed dialysis treatments.
The DOJ found merits with the recommendation of the NBI and indicted WellMed. Philhealth officials who were allegedly involved in the scheme are now under preliminary investigation by the DOJ.
PhilHealth is currently facing separate investigations from the Senate, House of Representatives, and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission for alleged corruption in the agency.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier ordered the DOJ, which has jurisdiction over the NBI, to create a task force that would look into the alleged irregularities hounding PhilHealth.