Apparently stung by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III’s remarks that he had no business dredging up past events to taint an “unblemished” 35 years of public service, Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday made public a document showing Duque allowed Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to rent in 2018 a family-owned building in Dagupan for over P529,000 a month.
Guesting at the Senate Kapihan, Lacson shared with the media the document showing PhilHealth’s Region 1 office had rented three floors of a building owned by the Educational and Medical Development Corp. (EDMC) on Francisco Duque Jr. Street, Tapuac District in Dagupan, from January 1 to December 31, 2018.
EDMC’s General Information Sheet (GIS) showed one Francisco Duque III among eight stockholders, four of them surnamed Duque. Another stockholder who served as company president, Dr. Luz T. Duque-Hammershaimb, was the signatory in the lease contract with PhilHealth. Lacson identified her as the DOH chief’s sister.
“If this is not conflict of interest, I don’t know what is. Building mo, naka [your building under] contract of lease…, and that is a family corporation. [Then] you are a member of the board. Narito ang [here’s the] General Information Sheet. And the signatory in the contract of lease is his own sister. I have the documents already,” the senator pointed out.
When the 18th Congress opens in July, Lacson said he will most likely seek a Senate probe into the matter.
According to documents obtained by the senator’s office, the lease contract was justified under PhilHealth’s Corporate Order 2016-30 dated March 28, 2016, authorizing the president and chief executive officer of the state health insurer to approve lease contracts for P3 million and above.
The agency’s provincial regional office bid and awards committee recommended giving the contract to EDMC for a “negotiated procurement for the lease of office space for PhilHealth Regional Office 1” in a resolution.
The space leased covered 2,0151.4 square meters on the first, second and third floors of the EDMC building.
At the same forum, Lacson said, “And I found out that the Regional Office 1 of PhilHealth is housed in a building. I have here a copy of the contract of lease, owned by Secretary Duque. It is located in [Tapuac] district in Dagupan City. This is just the start of some extensive research or investigation I am conducting…not only against Secretary Duque” but other officials who may have caused, by omission or commission, the plunder of PhilHealth’s funds.
“What irritates me is when a government official who knows he did something wrong, yet acts like a hypocrite because he is projecting an unblemished record for 35 years,” Lacson said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Image credits: Senate PRIB