Duque ‘optimistic’ Gierran can return public’s confidence in PhilHealth
MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Francisco Duque is “optimistic” that newly-appointed Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) chief Dante Gierran would be able to return the public’s confidence amid alleged anomalies hounding the state insurer.
“I’m optimistic that under the most able leadership of Atty. Dante Gierran, he will ferret out the scalawags and return the public’s confidence in PhilHealth especially in these trying times,” Duque, who sits as the ex officio chair of PhilHealth, said during the joint hybrid hearing of the House committee on public accounts and committee on good government and public accountability.
In a taped speech aired Monday night, Duterte named Gierran, former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), as the new head of the state insurance agency following the resignation of PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales.
Duterte told Gierran to immediately implement a reshuffle within the state insurance firm, including the removal of all of PhilHealth’s regional vice presidents.
In the same hearing, Duque said the Senate Committee of the Whole made “baseless findings on mere allegations alone” when it recommended the filing of charges against him and other PhilHealth officials over alleged misuse of funds in the agency.
Duque earlier said he was not present when PhilHealth officials signed a resolution authorizing the release of the interim reimbursement mechanism (IRM) funds to hospitals even if they were not catering to COVID-19 patients.
