Opposition Senator Francis N. Pangilinan sought on Tuesday a Senate mandate in its upcoming report on the alleged widespread Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) that secretaries of various departments sit actively during board meetings as PhilHealth board members.
(Senate of the Philippines / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Pangilinan made the suggestion to Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III as chairman of the Senate Committee of the Whole when they conclude their in-person and virtual public hearing on the PhilHealth mess.
Such active participation of these Cabinet secretaries in meetings of the PhilHealth board should last for at least six months, he suggested.
He said the active personal attendance of the secretaries of the Department of Finance, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Budget and Management in board members would result in enhanced accountability and transparency in the affairs of PhlHealth.
In today’s Senate committee hearing, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III said he, as PhilHealth board chairman, would relay the Senate’s recommendation to his fellow department secretaries for greater participation in Board meetings.
He told Pangilinan that his fellow Cabinet members usually send their subordinates to Philhealth board meetings.
The actual presence of department secretaries in PhilHealth board meetings would result in quick response and synergy, Pangilinan said.
In recent media interviews, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said that aside from Duque, PhilHealth board members should also be asked to appear before senators in their public hearing on the PhilHealth mess.