MANILA – A regional vice president of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) received an “enormous box” with a scantily dressed dancer inside, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee report revealed.
Senate panel chair Richard Gordon said that his committee unveiled such episode in a video recording of an undated birthday celebration of PhilHealth Regional Vice President (Region IV-B) Paolo Johann Perez, among career officials the panel tagged as members of the PhilHealth “mafia.”
The video showed a woman provocatively dancing before Perez in his office, as staff looked on, in what was dubbed as Perez’s “office nightclub.”
“On his birthday, Perez received a gift, an enormous box, in his office. A girl, dressed in nothing but her underwear, danced and gyrated provocatively in front of Perez,” read the committee report.
“Perez enjoyed the performance and was seen smiling in the video. He did not prevent the incident, or report and issue any reprimand to the employees who brought the girl,” it said.
Gordon said the said party happened “during office hours,” and that many of the staff were heard “shouting, as one could expect from a show in a nightclub.”
Last week, Perez said the incident was a surprise party and claimed that there wasn’t any nude dancer but instead a performer. He said he invited his staff to just go eat just before the performance started.
Perez is among 8 PhilHealth officials tagged as members of an alleged mafia in the Senate panel report. It said they had connections to higher government officials and wielded influence to prompt the removal of PhilHealth presidents./PN
