Zubiri willing to excuse Morales from Senate hearing

Sen. Migz Zubiri agrees PhilHealth President Ricardo Morales should take a leave of absence but stressed other officials invited to the senate hearing should not be excused from testifying in the PhilHealth probe. 

Zubiri said Morales has valid reasons to heed his doctors advise to take a leave of absence since he is undergoing treatment for lymphoma.

“Ngayon may sakit si General Morales, siguro ngayon dapat siyang palitan…Take a leave of absence, dahil may sakit nga po siya (Gen. Morales is sick, so I think it’s time he is replaced…or he can take a leave of absence precisely because he has an illness),” Zubiri said in an interview over GMANewsTv.

“Sa ganun, pwede nating maimbestigahan ng maayos ang mga opisyal na ito at masuspend po silang lahat (With that, we can pursue the investigation on these PhilHealth officials and they can be suspended),” the senator added.

Morales, and PhilHealth executive vice president and CEO Arnel de Jesus had earlier submitted a letter to Senate President Vicente Sotto III telling him they cannot attend the Senate Committee of the Whole’s hearing on the widespread corruption allegations on Tuesday due to an illness.

According to Morales, his doctor has advised him to take a leave due to lymphoma as he is undergoing chemotherapy. De Jesus, on the other hand, notified the Senate leadership he cannot attend due to an “unforeseen medical emergency.”

Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said their failure to attend the Senate’s Tuesday probe “is their loss” but the upper chamber will proceed with its investigation.

Zubiri agrees, saying the Senate’s investigation on the various corruption issues in PhilHealth should continue regardless of President Duterte’s directive creating a task force that would look into the issue.

“Tuloy dapat ang imbestigasyon ng Senado…kung hindi po tayo nag imbestiga baka tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang pagnanakaw ng mga ito (The Senate’s investigation should continue…if we didn’t investigate, they could have continued with their nefarious activities),” he pointed out.

Zubiri said he still stands by his recommendation to the Executive Department that these PhilHealth officials involved in the controversy should be suspended, at the very least.

“But yung iba biglang nagkasakit ang ulo , nagka-highblood, mga yan dapat sumama pa din sa investigation. Hindi po yan rason para mawala sila sa investigation na to (But the others who claim of headaches, high blood pressure, they should still be part of the investigation. That’s not enough reason to be absent in this investigation),” the majority leader reiterated.