MANILA, Philippines — The Senate Committee of the Whole is pushing for the resignation of high-ranking officials of the embattled Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), including the agency’s regional vice presidents.
In sponsoring the committee’s report on the findings of the panel on its investigation into the PhilHealth mess, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the resignation of these officials would give President Rodrigo Duterte a “free hand” to appoint new ones and enable the state insurer to regain the public’s trust.
“[The] high ranking officials of PhilHealth starting from the Chief Executive Officer to the Regional Vice Presidents [should] file their courtesy resignations in compliance with the Board Resolution in relation thereto,” Sotto said in his speech during Tuesday’s plenary session.
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It was earlier revealed in one of the committee’s hearings last August 4 that an order earlier issued by the President calling for the courtesy resignation of PhilHealth’s senior vice president and board members in a bid to cleanse the agency last year was not completely implemented.
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Former PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales explained to senators then that there was a board resolution regarding the resignation of key officials but it only reached the board members and not the vice presidents.
Morales argued that a “mass resignation” would be “too disruptive to the corporation.”
Morales, who is battling lymphoma, recently resigned from his post at the height of corruption investigations being faced by PhilHealth.
Replacing him is former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Dante Gierran.
The President has already instructed Gierran to immediately implement a reshuffle within the state insurer.
Implement reassignment
The committee also recommended to PhilHealth the regular reassignment of its regional vice presidents to different areas for every three years.
“No [regional vice president] should be reassigned to the same region more than twice in his or her entire tenure in PhilHealth,” Sotto added.
Further, the Senate panel also called on the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation (GCG) to “actively and decisively” perform its mandate as a central advisory, monitoring and oversight body of PhilHealth.
The committee urged the GCG to identify the necessary skills and qualifications required for appointive directors to the PhilHealth and consider the suitability and qualifications of the candidates before submitting its recommendations to the President.
“The fit and proper rule should be strictly applied – the directors must be chosen based on their integrity, experience, education, training and competence, among others,” Sotto said.
“This is to ensure that only the most competent people are appointed as directors of the national insurance agency,” he added.
Further, the GCG should take a proactive role in evaluating the performance of PhilHealth, its directors as well as officers, and discipline them, if necessary, Sotto said.
The GCG was also urged to conduct periodic evaluation and assessment of PhilHealth’s performance of the PhilHealth and to require reports on the agency’s operations and management, particularly on its assets and finances.
They should also recommend appropriate measures to improve PhilHealth’s overall performance and service delivery in accordance with its mandate, Sotto added.