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Manila Bulletin devider devider Fraudulent claims made on PhilHealth, SSS, Pag-ibig to be punishable by 12 to 40 yrs in prison

Fraudulent claims made on PhilHealth, SSS, Pag-ibig to be punishable by 12 to 40 yrs in prison

Published Aug 14, 2019 01:54 pm
By Mario Casayuran Senator Manuel "Lito" Lapid said yesterday that those making fraudulent claims on mandatory employee contributions and benefits from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Social Security System (SSS) and Pag-IBIG Fund must be sent to jail from 12 to 40 years. Senator Manuel “Lito” Lapid (Senator Lito Lapid / Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) Senator Manuel “Lito” Lapid (Senator Lito Lapid / Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) Lapid he filed a bill in response to recent reported cases of “ghost patients” from PhilHealth, “ghost borrowers” of Pag-IBIG loans and bogus claimants of SSS benefits. Senator Richard J. Gordon started yesterday an in-depth inquiry, in aid legislation, on the existence of an alleged mafia at the PhilHealth, conflict of interest of Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque, and over-charging and over-billing of hospitals. ‘’Ang PhilHealth ay ating sentinel ng health insurance para sa kababayan natin na kapos ng pera. Hindi natin patatawarin ang nandaraya  sa tao,’’ Gordon said.  (PhilHealth is the sentinel of health insurance for our needy countrymen. We will not forgive those who cheated the people.) Lapid said these unscrupulous individuals misuse public funds that are supposed to be for the benefit of the poor and marginalized. “Ang bawat sentimo na nananakaw mula sa pondo na nakalaan dapat para sa Universal Health Care (UHC), SSS at Pag-IBIG ay katumbas sa pagnanakaw na mismo mula sa mga mahihirap na sana’y benepisyaryo ng mga programang ito,” Lapid said. (Every centavo stolen from the UHC, SSS andPag-Ibig is equivalent to stealing the benefits of the poor who the beneficiaries of these agencies.) According to Lapid’s Senate Bill 837, known as An Act Increasing the Penalty for Fraud Committed in Relation to the Mandatory Employee Contributions and Benefits, ‘’the penalty imposable for any member, real estate developer, health care provider or person, who shall cause the filing of a false or fraudulent claim for benefits or entitlements, shall be reclusion temporal or imprisonment for a period of 12 years and one day up to 20 years, to reclusion perpetua or imprisonment for 20 years and one day up to 40 years.’’ Lapid said that if the false or fraudulent claim is committed by a syndicate consisting of five or more persons, the imposable penalty shall be life imprisonment. ‘’Furthermore, under this proposed measure, these violations will become non-bailable offenses,’’ he stressed.
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