Nakakasuya na sobra! Ping pushes probe of PhilHealth corruption after shouting match

A shouting match that hindicated “unabated corruption” at the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has gotten the attention of the Senate, and Sen. Panfilo Lacson intends to look into the matter.

Lacson said Friday he is drafting a resolution to have the Senate convene as a Committee of the Whole to look into the “unabated corruption and mismanagement” at PhilHealth.

“I am now drafting a resolution calling for a Senate Committee of the Whole inquiry. As expressed by Senate President Sotto to me last night, this inquiry will be one of the Senate’s top agenda after our session resumes on Monday,” he said in a statement.

“Unabated corruption and mismanagement of (PhilHealth) funds has been a topic of discussion among Senate President Sotto and me, along with some senators from the majority bloc, for quite some time now,” he added.

He added the reported shouting match in a recent virtual conference between the PhilHealth president and some board members involving almost P1 billion worth of questionable transactions, including a total overprice of P98 million – if true, “says it all.”

“That such corruption occurred amid the COVID-19 crisis makes it more disgusting and abominable. Nakakasuya na sobra,” he said.

Lacson stressed there is urgency that the Senate has to act on the matter immediately, as part of its oversight mandate, having passed the Universal Health Law.

Last year, the Senate investigated issues surrounding PhilHealth and the Department of Health, including instances of conflict of interest involving the family of DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III.

These included the Duque family-owned Doctors Pharmaceuticals Inc. having contracts with the Department of Health, and the PhilHealth regional office renting a Duque-owned building.

On the other hand, Lacson noted Duque’s “pattern of failure” had prompted him and at least 13 of his colleagues to file a resolution seeking his resignation.

“(When there was a change of leadership at PhilHealth), we had high hopes the shenanigans at PhilHealth would end with a new leadership. Sad to say, how wrong we were,” Lacson lamented.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)