Remulla, Barbers urge DOJ to study role of Duque in PhilHealth mess

MANILA, Philippines — Two solons are urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) led inter-agency task force to look into the role played by Health Secretary Francisco Duque in the irregularities now hounding the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

During the hearing of the House committee on public accounts and the committee on good government and public accountability, Cavite 7th District Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla did not mince words when he slammed Duque amid the anomalies within the agency.

“He’s the longest-tenured person in PhilHealth besides the executive officers who are now SVPs (Senior Vice Presidents). Kaya kung titingnan natin (If we look at it), we really have to study the role of Secretary Duque here,” Remulla told DOJ Undersecretary Adrian Sugay.

“Kasi lagi nyang sinasabi, wala siyang responsibility. How can you be the chairman of the board and say you’re not responsible for anything? That is not the behavior of a responsible person. Yung lagi mong sasabihin na, ‘wala ako dyan, hindi ako yan.’ Hindi pwede yun eh. Where does the buck stop? Sino ba ang responsible talaga?” the lawmaker added.

(Because he is always saying that he is not responsible. How can you be the chairman of the board and say you’re not responsible for anything? That is not the behavior of a responsible person. You will always say, ‘I’m not there, that’s not me.’ That should not be the case. Where does the buck stop? Who really is responsible?)

Remulla expressed that he does not understand “why people are even thinking of other things but the responsibility of Mr. Duque.”

“Lagi mo bang sasabihin executive officers lang o yung taong matagal na matagal na nandyan na alam ang lahat ng kalokohan pinapabayaan lang. By default, it’s him,” Remulla said.

(Do we say it’s only the executive officers or the person who has been there for a long time and knows the irregularities but did not do anything about it? By default, it’s him.)

Surigao Del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, meanwhile, said Duque was evading the responsibility as the chairman of the PhilHealth board every time he will claim that he did not attend a particular meeting or that he was not a signatory of a document in question.

“This clearly is an evasion of responsibility of being the chairman of the board. The question raised by Cong. [Stella] Quimbo kanina, [what is the] on the point of view of lawyers like you, yung hindi paggawa?” Barbers asked Sugay.

“Hindi ba nonfeasance yung action na ‘yun ng Secretary of Health where he will also be administratively liable?” he added.

(Where the Secretary of Health’s actions nonfeasance where he will also be administratively liable?)

Sugay said they will study how PhilHealth was managed over the years and whether or not its officers were able to accomplish their tasks.

The DOJ official added that based on these investigations, they will determine whether PhilHealth officials should have corresponding liabilities.

“Kunyari pinag-uusapan natin yung IRM (interim reimbursement mechanism) for instance. So far nakikita namin, tama naman yung policy, tama yung rules, maybe it was in the implementation and I think that’s a matter for the executive officers,” Sugay said.

(For instance, we are talking about the IRM. So far, we see that the policy and rules are correct, maybe it was in the implementation and I think that’s a matter for the executive officers.)

“We need to look into it further. Do they have oversight functions with regard to this implementation or ‘yung ginagawa ng ating executive officers? Did they exercise yung oversight function properly as the board, not just as policy-setting? Also yung oversight, did they do that? So yan titingnan natin lahat yan,” he added.

(We need to look into it further. Do they have oversight functions with regard to this implementation? Did they exercise yung oversight function properly as the board not just as policy-setting? Also yung oversight, did they do that? We need to look into all that.)