Task force to evaluate Senate findings on PhilHealth mess — Palace

MANILA, Philippines — The task force created by President Rodrigo Duterte to probe the alleged corruption within the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) would evaluate the findings of a Senate panel over the supposed anomalies, Malacañang said Wednesday.

The Senate Committee of the Whole has recommended the filing of charges against Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, recently resigned PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales, as well as several top-ranking officials, over the alleged misuse of funds under the state insurance firm’s emergency cash advance measure.

According to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, the Palace “respects” the recommendation of the Senate panel but Duterte will wait for the result of the investigation being conducted by his own task force before taking action.

“Let’s just say that we respect the recommendation of the Senate as a co-equal body. But the President himself has created a task force to determine the capability of individuals and the President will have to await the formal findings of his own task force,” Roque said in an interview over CNN Philippines’ The Source.

“I think the task force itself will evaluate the findings of the Senate and I’m almost sure that the Senate has transmitted all the evidence it has gathered in the course of its investigation. Whether or not the task force will agree with the conclusion, I leave it to the task force,” he added.

The Palace official said the task force has until September 14 to wrap up its probe.

Duterte has created an inter-agency task force led by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to probe PhilHealth officials over the corruption claims which were unearthed during recent congressional inquiries.

Among allegations of corruption raised involve the procurement of alleged overpriced IT equipment; a supposedly questionable release of funds under the corporation’s Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM); and the alleged manipulation of the corporation’s financial status.

The President said Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra is already “winding up his investigation”.

“I think he has seen proof enough to come up with an indictment. I hope this sad episode in our national life, in our journey towards nation-building will be somehow corrected,” Duterte said in a taped public address aired Monday night.

JE