Senate panel wants criminal raps vs ex-DOH chief Garin, other former officials

FILE PHOTO — Senate probe on barangay health stations: former DOH Secretary Dr. Janette P. Loreto-Garin. INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippines — A Senate committee suspects that the diversion of a P10.6-billion fund from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) meant for senior citizens in 2015 was used to “siphon” funds to finance the 2016 elections.

Because of this, the Senate blue ribbon committee recommended the filing of criminal charges against officials during the Aquino administration, including former Department of Health (DOH) Janette Garin, over the alleged misuse of these funds.

This recommendation was part of the ribbon committee report which contained findings on the investigation the panel conducted into the alleged fraud and corruption in PhilHealth in 2019.

In its report released to reporters on Tuesday, the committee, chaired by Senator Richard Gordon, said that in 2015, P10.6 billion was allocated for the premium of senior citizens.

But the amount was “diverted” to the construction of projects of the DOH, according to the committee.

“The loss of P10.6 Billion that was spent on uncompleted projects for political campaign purposes stunted PhilHealth’s financial growth,” it stated.

“By diverting the budget, then DOH Sec. Garin and company put in disrepute the integrity of the PhilHealth fund and derailed the march to efficient and reliable health insurance in this country,” it added.

The committee report noted that the P10.6 billion was requested for immediate release as the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) funding.

Of the amount, P4.6 billion was allocated for barangay health stations (BHS) TSeKaP (Tamang Serbisyo para sa Kalusugan ng Pamilya), P4.9 billion for school-based TSeKaP BHS; P392 million for rural health units; P125 million for national government hospitals; and P648 million for mobile dental vehicles.

The committee said that the Department of Budget and Management released P9.39 billion on December 29, 2015, for the projects supposedly requested by Garin.

Of the funding, P5.36 billion, or 57.08 percent, was allotted for the barangay health station projects, according to the Senate panel.

Citing a 2017 report from the Commission on Audit on the barangay health station projects, the blue ribbon committee said that only 426 out of the 3,200 supposed units of barangay health stations were completed during its first phase.

“In phase 2, only 12 or (0.48%) are completed out of the 2,500 supposed units,” the committee report further read.

In the case of equipment, the Senate panel noted that the price for a sphygmomanometer for the TSeKap Kit was pegged at around P2,500, according to the April 15, 2016 Purchase Order from DOH.

“But the usual price of the same is only P600 in Bambang, Manila. A TSeKap Health Kit is overpriced at Php 85,000 per piece when the price was just 25,000 per piece,” it added.

“What the Committee noticed is the parallelism between Dengvaxia and the 2015 Philhealth Senior Citizen Fund: both were intended to siphon funds from PhilHealth to finance the 2016 elections,” the committee report stated.

INQUIRER.net has reached out to Garin, who currently serves as Iloilo 1st DistrictRepresentative, for her comment but has yet to receive a response as of writing.

Graft raps

The committee recommended the filing of graft and technical malversation charges against Garin.

The panel also recommended the filing of technical malversation charges against former Budget and Management Secretary Butch Abad and former PhilHealth president and CEO Alexander Padilla.

Charges for violating the code of conduct of ethical standards for public officials and employees can also be filed against the three, according to the committee.

“The Ombudsman should conduct investigations as to the possibility of filing plunder charges against the officers responsible in PhilHealth,” the committee report read.

“There is with the participation of many officers- collectively or singly- in the pillaging of PhilHealth an urgent need to determine whether or not plunder can be filed against alleged perpetrators of these crimes,” it added.

In March 2018, PhilHealth already lodged a graft complaint against Garin and Padilla in connection with the alleged diversion of P10.69 billion meant for senior citizens to the construction of rural health clinics in 2015.

Garin had earlier dismissed allegations on the supposed diversion of the P10.69-billion fund as a “huge lie.”

CFC