PhilHealth records safe from roof leak, says exec

DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan, Philippines — Rainwater that leaked from the ceiling of the regional office of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) here on Aug. 19 did not damage any critical computer hardware or network equipment, an official of the state health insurer said on Sunday.

Alberto Manduriao, PhilHealth vice president in the Ilocos region, said the agency was doing a parallel investigation “because we also wanted to find out the truth about what really happened.”

Manduriao said he had been coordinating with the National Bureau of Investigation and had asked for a copy of its official report.

“We have always been cooperative in all probes by authorities and our office is open to any investigation. All legal documents were secured and there was no truth to the allegation that there was a cover-up of [evidence],” he said in a statement.

According to Manduriao, the leak was traced to the building’s mezzanine, and drenched computers and printers at the benefits administration section.

“All documents are accounted for. Because of electronic filing of claims, the data are secured in the data center of the central office,” he said.

Rizaldy Jaymalin, NBI Dagupan chief, said he had asked the Bureau of Fire Protection to submit its findings on the incident.

But Jaymalin said initial investigation showed that a piece of cloth had clogged the downspout’s strainer, preventing the flow of rainwater.

The building’s owner had hired workers to fix the leaking roof but could have left the cloth on the downspout, Jaymalin said.

Several senators claimed that the ceiling leak at the PhilHealth office could have been done on purpose to destroy stacks of documents that might be used as evidence of irregularities in the agency.

—Yolanda Sotelo