Morales failed in his job to rid PhilHealth of corruption -- Roque

Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) president and chief executive officer Ricardo Morales has failed in his job to rid the agency of corruption, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said on Wednesday.

“When he was placed there by the President to replace a board and a previous president because of the Wellmed scam, our expectation is that he would take concrete steps to rid the agency of corruption,” he said during an interview over CNN Philippines.

Roque lamented that Morales admitted during the Senate inquiry on Tuesday, Aug. 4, that “corruption was still rampant.”

“I did not hear steps he had taken to remove corruption in the agency. That to me is the most worrisome,” Roque said.

Aside from the legislative probes, Roque noted that President Duterte has directed Malacanang Undersecretary Melchor Quitain to conduct an investigation over the alleged corruption taking place at the PhilHealth.

“I am just happy two branches of the government are investigating these allegations of fraud,” he said.

“As I said, our Universal Health Care Law cannot succeed unless we rid PhilHealth of corruption,” he added.

Roque said it is up to Morales to either go on leave or step down while the investigation on alleged corruption is ongoing.

“I am not in a position to tell him what to do,” the spokesman said.

“The President has said that he will not fire him unless there is evidence,” Roque said.