Gierran: PhilHealth not a party to complaints dismissed by Ombudsman

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is not a party to the dismissed complaints involving its officials, the state insurer’s president, and CEO Dante Gierran said Friday.

In a statement, Gierran said, “the Ombudsman ruling on the cases filed by some PhilHealth officers against 11 other former and present senior officers for violations of Section 3a and e of RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act), and for grave misconduct, Oppression and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service was served individually to the concerned complainants and respondents, PhilHealth being not a party to the said cases.”

“In any case, the said the decision by the Ombudsman should be respected by everyone in the interest of justice and the 110-million members who deserve nothing less but a strong PhilHealth,” Gierran added.

The 11 PhilHealth officials who face graft and grave misconduct complaints are former chief executive officer Roy Ferrer; interim president and CEO Celestina Ma. Jude Dela Serna, Executive Vice President Ruben John Basa, Senior Vice President Dennis Mas, Vice President Shirley Domingo, Senior Vice President Rodolfo del Rosario, Supervising Health Program Officer Raul Dominic Badilla, Senior Vice President Israel Pargas,
Corporate Legal Counsel Angelito Grande, PhilHealth NCR Attorney IV Lawrence Mijares, Auditing Systems Specialist Chief Leila Tuazon.

The seven complainants of the case earlier claimed that the said officials conspired into filing complaints against them. They claimed that the respondents’ moves stemmed from their filing of cases against PhilHealth board members and testifying on possible areas of graft and corruption within the agency.

The Office of the Ombudsman, however, stated in a resolution released on Wednesday that the PhilHealth officials’ move to file complaints against the complainants is well within their tasks and duties and should not be taken as a form of conspiracy among the respondents.

“We assure the Filipino people that all PhilHealth officers and employees nationwide are imbued with a strong sense of duty and commitment to the National Health Insurance Program,” Gierran added. Sofia Vertucio, trainee

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