MANILA, Philippines — Citing a possible conflict of interest, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go on Tuesday called on Senator Richard Gordon to inhibit himself from future probes concerning PhilHealth due to a previous controversy that involved a deal between the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and the state insurer.
“In the spirit of fairness and impartiality, shouldn’t the blue ribbon committee chair inhibit himself on further hearing or matters involving PhilHealth?” the neophyte senator said in a privilege speech.
Gordon is the chairman of the PRC and heads the Senate blue ribbon committee, which is looking into the “deficiencies” flagged by state auditors in using pandemic funds.
“The chairman of the blue ribbon committee is also the chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, which in the early days of OCVID-19 pandemic entered into a multi-million peso memorandum of agreement (MOA) with PhilHealth,” Go went on.
Go asked: “Isn’t it a conflict of interest that the one you are investigating is part of the organization you lead?”
Back in October last year, PhilHealth’s auditors described as “highly irregular” the P100-million “advance payment” given by the state insurer to the PRC for the conduct of COVID-19 testing.
“Di ba disadvantageous sa gobyerno at against the law ang paghingi ng advanced payment?” Go asked, but quickly said a further discussion on the matter could be done in “another forum.”
(Doesn’t it disadvantage the government and violate the law to ask for advanced payment?)
“Nagtatanong lang po ako,” he said.
(Just asking.)
“Make no mistake, I will not present conclusions here without due process and fairness,” he then added.
Earlier, the Department of Justice said that PhilHealth must obtain the President’s approval before making a P100-million cash advance to the PRC. It added, however, that the approval could still be obtained even after the payment had been given.
In response to Go, Gordon said it was the government that asked the PRC for the conduct of COVID-19 testing.
“Hindi ako ang lumapit sa gobyerno. Ang gobyerno ang lumapit sa amin…Hindi po ako humingi ng kontrata, pinagawa kami ng kontrata,” Gordon added.
(I did not reach out to the government. They reached out to us…I did ask for a contract. The government asked us to draft one.)
During the blue ribbon panel’s inquiry, senators had questioned the DOH’s transfer of P42 billion to the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service (DBM-PS) for the procurement of pandemic response supplies, including allegedly overpriced items purchased from Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.
The former head of the DBM-PS, Christopher Lao, has been linked to Go.
Go had denied that Lao was his aide or had reported directly to him.
In one of the hearings, senators questioned Lao’s appointment to the DBM-PS.
READ: Senators question ex-DBM exec Lao’s appointment
Go stressed it was among the President’s prerogative to appoint someone in his office and his administration.
The neophyte senator claimed that Gordon had allegedly called him to recommend someone in a position. Despite this, Go declined to provide more information.
“Ikaw po mismo, meron kang ni-recommend noon. Itinawag mo sakin, nakarating kay Pangulo, na-appoint ni Pangulo. Meron bang nagkuwestyon?” Go said.
(You yourself have recommended someone. You called me about it, it reached the President and he appointed that person. Did someone question that?)
“Eh kung qualified naman po ang tao, ina-appoint po ng Pangulo. Eh ikaw mismo, tumatawag at nagrerekomenda. Huwag kang magmalinis,” he added.
(If that person is qualified, the President appoints that person. You call me to recommend people. Don’t act like you have not done it.)
Go’s rant against Gordon comes after Duterte himself also criticized the blue ribbon committee chair for supposedly being too talkative.
“Makita mo si Gordon sa mga TV pagka-committee hearing niya pakita mo maraming mga congressman pag-roll call. Pero dahan dahan yan mawala kasi si Gordon ang champion noon nanalo, siya ang nanalo sa talkathon, champion,” Duterte had said.
(You can see Gordon on TV after he attended a committee hearing. There were many congressmen in the room for roll call. But gradually, they dwindled as Gordon became the talkathon champion.)
“Puro daldal, kanya yung tanong, kanya yung sagot. At siya ang magsabi kung mali ka o hindi,” the President added.
(So talkative, he’ll ask a question and make an answer. And then he’ll let you know if you’re right or not.)