MANILA – The corruption happening at the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) runs from head to foot as described by an official of the government’s anti-corruption body.
Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) commissioner Greco Belgica said during a Senate hearing on Tuesday that up to P3 billion in funds being released by the agency weekly is “exposed to corruption.”
“Madami na kaming inimbestigahan, kinasuhan, pinatanggal, at pinakulong pero ang isyu ng PhilHealth: Grabe po ito. Grabe ang nakawan, grabe ang kakapalan, grabe ang kawalanghiyaan,” Belgica said.
Belgica said that the corruption in PhilHealth was made possible due to a lack of transparency and prior validation of claims of members and health care providers (HCP).
“Ito ang unang isyu na kailangan nating i-address ngayon dahil P2 billion hanggang P3 billion ang inilalabas ng PhilHealth linggu-linggo ay exposed sa corruption,” he added. “Mula ulo hanggang paa ang corruption.”
He said that PhilHealth merely conducts random post-audit, which makes audit of every claim impossible. Thus, he said, only claims that are “apparently suspicious” were being analyzed.
Among the issues questioned by the senators were the P27-billion “war chest” the PhilHealth made available to hospitals in January, which the PhilHealth said was in preparation for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales said the agency was “in a state of panic” and sought to prepare hospitals for the looming pandemic by advancing the amount, which they could use for such purchases as personal protective equipment and disinfectants.
Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, however, doubted if the PhilHealth really intended the amount to prepare hospitals for COVID-19 pandemic while Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III “did not do anything” about the virus until mid-March.
“Yet an agency was already ‘panicking,’ if we are to believe them,” Drilon said. “Obviously, this is an excuse… This is an excuse which should not be allowed to stand unchallenged.”
Morales said fraud within PhilHealth was “systemic” while admitting he miscalculated the period when he could fix the problem as the agency’s “anti-fraud mechanisms were inadequate and inappropriate to address the internal weaknesses.”
“The problem is systemic and cannot be solved in one year, maybe not even three years,” he said. “I miscalculated the time required to get the ICT (information and communications technology) system up and running. One year was not enough and the budget was inadequate for the job.”
The Senate is investigating PhilHealth over alleged corruption, with its resigned anti-fraud officer, lawyer Thorrsson Montes Keith, going public with allegations of corruption, saying some PhilHealth officials pocketed around P15 billion in funds through various schemes.
President Rodrigo has formed an inter-agency task force to investigate the allegations but has refused to fire Morales, a former Army general he appointed to the agency last year./PN
