Whistle-blower in PhilHealth fraud case sacked

DAVAO CITY—One of the whistle-blowers in a case of misrepresentation against a top regional official of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is being terminated from work in a move by top PhilHealth officials that the whistle-blower said is a retaliation against her.

Bernadith Ipanag, a PhilHealth employee for the past 14 years, said she had been ordered terminated by Dennis Adre, PhilHealth regional director, after she and several others filed a case at the Ombudsman against Adre for misrepresentation and dishonesty.

Adre has been charged with falsely declaring in 1999, the year he applied for a position at PhilHealth, that he graduated from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, when records show he did not.

A certification issued by UP showed Andre did not graduate from the university in 1999.

“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 Inquirer.

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

Ipanag said the order to terminate her, due to alleged absences, was to take effect this month. Dennis Jay Santos, Inquirer Mindanao