Corruption in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) seems to have become the rule rather than the exception.

Senator Panfilo Lacson made this remark Saturday in reaction to the alleged corruption in the agency that saw some employees resigning because of the suspected anomalies.

PhilHealth officials, however, stressed that it is prepared to undergo any investigation.

Lacson said the Senate is filing a resolution for such an inquiry on Monday, pointing out the ensuing Committee of the Whole inquiry “will show you how even the COVID-19 crisis has created more opportunities for systemic corruption in PhilHealth to flourish.”

He cited as an example the newly-instituted Interim Reimbursement Mechanism purportedly to support the National Government’s response to the COVID-19 threat gives the PHIC the authority to provide special privilege in the form of substantial aid to “eligible” Health Care Institutions).

“This new malevolent scheme led to the release of hundreds of millions of pesos in record time of one or two weeks, to a few unaccredited hospitals that register only one COVID-19 patient,” he said.

That and other mind-blowing controversies, he said, will be the focus of the senate inquiry in the coming days when Congress resumes its second regular session.

“As long as the responsible officials are not made accountable for their misdeeds, PhilHealth will continue to bleed dry thus running the risk of becoming bankrupt sooner than we think,” Lacson added.

Nothing to hide

In a statement, PhilHealth spokesman Gigi Domingo reiterated that they welcome any investigation and will fully cooperate with the directive, even as the state health insurer stressed that it has “nothing to hide.

PhilHealth, in a separate statement, noted that it is ready to face investigations to be mounted by the Senate and Office of the Special Assistant to the President to answer alleged corruption issue raised by a resigned job order contractor.

“Allegations not substantiated by evidence are hearsay and outright malicious,” said the agency.

To recall, presidential spokesman Harry Roque on Friday disclosed that President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered an investigation into claims of anomalies in PhilHealth and it will be headed by Undersecretary Jesus Melchor Quitain of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President.

The proposed probe stems from the allegations of former PhilHealth anti-fraud legal officer Thorrsson Montes Keith, who recently tendered his resignation over “widespread corruption” in the agency.

Roque said he personally received a copy of Keith’s resignation letter, but he did not reveal if Keith mentioned specific anomalies in his letter earlier.

In a separate interview with the Palace official, he mentioned an allegedly overpriced IT system purchase of PhilHealth and questioned its allocation of funds to reimburse claims of accredited hospitals across the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amid the allegations, PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales has denied irregularities in the agency and challenged Keith to substantiate his claim, stressing that he only raised the issue of corruption because the latter’s application for promotion was rejected.

The PhilHealth official noted that Keith holds a “non-existent” position, is only raising the issue because his application for promotion was turned down as he was unqualified, but Morales did not contest Keith’s claims that the release of the latter’s salary and hazard pay was delayed but attributed it to Keith being a contractual employee.

Domingo said that their office has yet to officially receive Keith’s resignation letter but that any grievances on promotion can be resolved through the agency’s grievance machinery.

“The Corporation assures the public that it takes seriously any issue on corruption and asks Atty. Keith to substantiate his accusations so proper procedures can be initiated,” Domingo said. (Daily Tribune)