Emmanuel Ledesma Jr., PhilHealth president and CEO (left), show in this file photo during a courtesy visit to House Speaker Martin Romualdez in November 2022. (Photo from the House of Representatives)
MANILA, Philippines — The reassignment of some officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. won’t affect its operations.
“First of all, I can assure you that there will be no disruptions in the operations of PhilHealth. It’s still not clear who will be transferred. All I know is there are allegations,” Emmanuel Ledesma Jr., president and CEO of the government medical insurance company, said, speaking partly in Filipino, in a press conference on Wednesday.
Ledesma made his remark after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) granted on Monday the request of Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa to allow the transfer of seven PhilHealth officials whom he had tagged as “incompetent” — amid a prevailing poll ban.
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Asked for a comment about the issue, Ledesma said: “It’s sad. I was so surprised by what transpired because I’ve been here for 10 months now, and ever since I joined, it has been running well, and I’ve been close to my colleagues. It’s really sad.”
“But we have to respect the decision of the board, and me personally, I always believe [that] in the end, truth and justice will always prevail,” he added.
Ledesma said that he would create a crisis committee to look into the allegations thrown against his colleagues, but he did not specify what these allegations were.
Meanwhile, two of the reassigned officials — Eli Dino Santos, who is executive vice president and COO, and data privacy officer Nerissa Santiago — said they would comply with the order.
“If ever an order will be issued to the assailants, if it is lawful and in order, then we will follow it subject to the rules and regulations and available remedies,” Santos said.