JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday called on all officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC) being linked to multibillion-peso anomalies in the agency to go on leave voluntarily.
These included, according to Guevarra, the 36 high-ranking and low-ranking officials earlier recommended by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) to be charged and be fired over alleged irregularities in the state firm.
The DOJ secretary said those whose operations are currently under investigation or special audit should vacate their post to give way for an impartial investigation.
“I hope they would voluntarily take a leave while their agency is under intense investigation,” Guevarra said.
“If they are not hiding anything, they can take a leave of absence to enable the investigators/auditors to freely complete their inquiry or examination,” he added.
PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales has also filed a medical leave while undergoing treatment for lymphoma as advised by his doctors.
Guevarra noted that the Data Privacy Act may not be used to hinder the conduct of legitimate government investigations.
The DOJ chief made the call as he convened on Monday the task force that he would be leading to conduct a thorough probe of alleged fraud and corruption in the government-run health insurer.
The task force is composed of representatives from the Office of the Ombudsman, Commission on Audit, Civil Service Commission, Office of the Executive Secretary, Office of the Special Assistant to the President and the PACC.
It was given 30 days to conduct an investigation, including lifestyle checks on PhilHealth officials, and to submit its report and recommendations to President Duterte.
Malacañang said Duterte is fed up by persistent allegations of corruption in PhilHealth following Morales’s admission at a Senate hearing that about P10.2 billion of the agency’s budget was “potentially lost” to fraudulent transactions and schemes in 2019.
Guevarra said since the task force was given only 30 days to come up with a recommendation, thus, it would zero in on alleged anomalies already under investigation by other agencies.
“The team will convene today [Monday] to finalize the strategy for the consideration of the task force, considering that the President directly assigned me to create the task force,” Guevarra explained.
“I will personally oversee its operation to ensure coordinated government action, with support from my undersecretaries and assistant secretaries and a team of DOJ lawyers acting as secretariat,” he added.
Guevarra said the members of the task force are currently identifying which specific investigations or audits, other than on the Wellmed issue, could be reasonably accomplished within the limited period given to the task force
Wellmed is among those being implicated in the P154 billion in bogus claims for dialysis and other medical treatment.
In August 2019, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed criminal cases against 21 officials and employees of PHIC before the DOJ in connection with the fraudulent claims for payment of dialysis and other medical treatment of PhilHealth members and beneficiaries.
The respondents, according to the NBI, gave unwarranted benefits to Wellmed in violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Aside from violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practice Act, the NBI is also seeking the prosecution of the respondents for violation of the provision of RA 10606 and RA 6713 also known as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
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