NBI closely watching Dagupan PhilHealth office

ROOF LEAKAGE The regional office of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. in Dagupan City has been under surveillance by the National Bureau of Investigation following the roof leakage incident. —YOLANDA SOTELO

DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan, Philippines — The head of the National Bureau of Investigation here on Sunday said there would be no unauthorized removal of documents from the regional office of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) here following the Aug. 19 incident where important papers were reportedly damaged during a heavy downpour.

“The [PhilHealth] office here is under surveillance 24/7 by our agents,” Rizaldy Jaymalin, head of the NBI district office, told the Inquirer by phone.

Rainwater clogged the downspout of the PhilHealth office and seeped through its roof and ceiling, soaking documents and computers.

The incident prompted some senators to call for an investigation, saying it could be an attempt to destroy evidence as top PhilHealth officials were being investigated for corruption and other irregularities.

According to Jaymalin, NBI Director Eric Distor had ordered the surveillance of the PhilHealth office on the request of Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, chair of the Senate health committee.

Initial investigation by the NBI and the Bureau of Fire Protection showed that a black piece of cloth was found on the downspout’s strainer, clogging the free flow of rainwater.

“But we do not know if the piece of cloth was accidentally left there or was intentionally put there. We could not speculate on what really happened, and we would come out with our conclusion only after an investigation,” Jaymalin said.

He also said the building’s owner had hired workers to fix the leaking roof.

Intact

Jaymalin said the PhilHealth’s legal officer had assured him that all legal documents of the agency had been secured and remained intact.

Edward Espiritu, administrative officer of PhilHealth in Ilocos Region, said he was not aware that the the office roof needed repairs.

“It had always been raining, but it was only in the afternoon of Aug. 19 that a major leak happened,” Espiritu said, pointing out that the leak from the ceiling affected only two rooms.

“We immediately called up the building owner to report the incident and he sent two workers to look at the roof. The decision was to put bigger downspouts,” he said.

Important papers are not in the open spaces but are kept in filing cabinets, he said.