Department of Health (DoH) Secretary Francisco Duque III was the "big elephant" that was not present in the first two hearings of the Senate Committee of the Whole regarding PhilHealth's unbridled corruption, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson said Thursday.
Being the top honcho of PhilHealth, according to Lacson, it is only appropriate that Duque answers the questions he would pose in the next committee hearing.
Lacson did not elaborate why he described Duque as the ‘’big elephant.’’
He may be referring to Duque, being a Cabinet member, who has not satisfied his (Lacson’s) past queries why the Duque family was able to lease its building in Pangasinan to PhilHealth and why it became a medicine supplier to the DoH although Duque was not the DoH Secretary at that time.
Opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros had noted that Duque has been an off and on Cabinet member from 2001 to the present.
As DoH Secretary and as ex-officio PhilHealth board chairman, Duque has institutional memory, she added.
Lacson said ‘’hopefully we would see Duque, the ex-officio chairman of PhilHealth, in the scheduled third hearing next Tuesday’’ and answer the following questions:
- Who was present during the shouting match in their last board meeting that effectively triggered these new controversies?
- Why has he kept very quiet in spite of all the anomalies being openly discussed with so many unanswered questions involving highly questionable transactions by PhilHealth?
- Most importantly, what does he intend to do or recommend to the President?