Philhealth employee who bared chief’s false entries in biodata fired

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — One of the whistleblowers in the supposed anomaly at the regional office of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) here said she was terminated from work by the official she and several others had filed complaints against.

Bernadith Ipanag, who has been with Philhealth for the past 14 years, said her firing by Philhealth regional director Dennis Adre was a clear retaliation for the cases she and several others filed before the Ombudsman.

Adre has been charged with serious dishonesty, misrepresentation, grave misconduct and violation of Republic Act 3016 for conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service and falsification of official documents.

He claimed being a graduate of UP Diliman when he applied for a job at Philhealth in 1999 but a certification issued by the school said this was false.

“Prior to the year 2013, Mr. Adre was not yet a graduate of the University of the Philippines-Diliman,” the school said in a certification, a copy of which, was obtained by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Adre has not commented on the charges and continues to evade reporters.

Ipanag said her termination — due to alleged absences — became effective this month, based on a document signed by Philhealth president Alexander Padilla.

“I was unjustly terminated and Adre has caused this to get back on us for the filing of charges against him,” Ipanag told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

In disputing the reason given for her termination, she said that all the absences she incurred were backed by official leave applications.

“I sometimes got sick or had to attend to an important family matter,” Ipanag said, adding that in the case of sick leaves, she had submitted medical certificates.

She said Adre also caused the publication of her “termination” in two local newspapers, which appeared to be an effort to humiliate her.

Germaine Tan, Philhealth public affairs officer, said there was basis for terminating Ipanag.

In response to why the termination order had to be published, Tan said: “I believe we will not publish it if we do not have legal basis.”

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