MANILA – Opposition Sen. Franklin Drilon urged the Commission on Audit (COA) to have a special audit of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) finances.
Drilon made the call following reports of the alleged irregularities involving bogus kidney treatments allegedly paid for by the state insurance company.
“Kung totoo itong nangyayari na maraming raket diyan sa PhilHealth, ako’y nananawagan sa COA na magkaroon ng special audit, because we cannot tolerate this. We must send people to jail for this,” Drilon said.
“Dahilan sa ang laking pera ang pinag-uusapan dito,” he added. “Ang universal healthcare ay para sa lahat lalo na sa mahihirap na magkaroon ng sapat na gamot at serbisyong pangkalusugan.”
Drilon said the minority bloc will file a resolution for an inquiry at the Senate committee on health and the blue ribbon committee when the 18th Congress opens session in July.
“Pagdating ng bagong kongreso kaagad naming ihahain ito,” Drilon said.
“Sana ito ay bigyan ng unang priority dahilan malapit na naman ang budget hearings at tatalakayin na naman ang appropriation para sa UHC,” he added referring to the universal healthcare (UHC).
Corruption allegations against PhilHealth surfaced after a former employee of a dialysis center in Quezon City came forward to reveal a “ghost dialysis” scheme used to make fraudulent claims to the government health insurance firm.
President Rodrigo Duterte recently tasked PhilHealth to file criminal charges against officials involved in the scandal.
PhilHealth chief Dr. Roy Ferrer was ordered to submit to Duterte a “detailed report” on irregularities hounding the agency. /PN
