Senator Christopher Go on Tuesday said that President Duterte still has the prerogative whether or not to sack Health Secretary Francisco Duque III over the allegations of corruption in the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
Go said he agrees with most of the findings and recommendations of the Senate Committee of the Whole on the reported irregularities in the state insurer, except for one.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III, who led the legislative inquiry on the PhilHealth's mess, sponsored during their plenary session the Committee of the Whole report, which recommended the filing of criminal charges against Duque, resigned PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Ricardo Morales and other top officials of the agency over the questionable payments under the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism; the alleged overpricing of its information technology procurement, the supposed manipulation of the agency's funds and supposed irregularities in handling the cases filed before the corporation.
While Sotto did not include it in his sponsorship speech, the Committee of the Whole's official report, signed by at least 22 senators, recommended to the President to "appoint a new Secretary of the Department Health who has a stronger will to fight corruption within his organization and the agencies under his/her watch."
Duque, as Department of Health chief, concurrently chairs the PhilHealth Board of Directors which handles the national health insurance funds and other policies in the state-run corporation.
"I agree with most of the recommendations stated in the Committee Report. However, I leave it to the President to judge as the sole appointing authority, if there is a need to make changes in his Cabinet. This is my only reservation upon signing the Committee Report," Go said in his manifestation after Sotto's speech.
Senators have repeatedly called for Duque's resignation due to his blunders and supposed failure of leadership in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Duterte, on the other hand, had repeatedly defended his health secretary from criticisms.
Despite his lone misgiving, the administration lawmaker, who had served as Duterte's aide for years, said he still commends the Senate for its efforts to help the government's campaign against corruption.
"I commend my colleagues in the Senate for these findings and recommendations that will help our colleagues in the Executive branch in doing their jobs," Go said.
"After numerous hearings, heads will finally roll," he added as he called on his colleagues for their cooperation with Duterte.
He then reminded former National Bureau of Investigation director Dante Gierran, who was just appointed to replace Morales, of Duterte's marching orders.
"Your job is to stop corruption. Hutda sila. Putla ilang kamot. Sa (In) English, do your best. Ang marching orders sayo ng Pangulo ay linisin mo ang ahensya (The marching orders of the President is to clean the agency) but also ensure that the public gets the best services from PhilHealth," he told Gierran.
"I am optimistic that you will be able to focus on stopping the deep-rooted, systemic corruption that has been there in the agency for many years already, while balancing the need to improve PhilHealth in providing the best service to Filipinos," he added.
Aside from Go, Sen. Pia Cayetano also placed on record her reservations about the Senate committee's recommendations, particularly on the personalities whom it wants charged.
"I signed the report with reservation and I also mentioned that I may possibly make an amendment," Cayetano said.
She said she had a "bit of hesitancy in lumping many officials in the cases that we are recommending to be filed."
While she "definitely" agreed that some officials are liable and should be prosecuted, "I hesitate to mention who these people would be for the simple reason that in the conduct of our investigation, we are not bound by the technical rules of evidence that are normally applicable to judicial proceedings."
She specifically said that she does not recall the inclusion of private companies or personalities in the cases to be filed, but the committee report mentioned "certain names".
During his speech, Sotto mentioned the B. Braun Avitum Philippines and some of its executives to cite an example of PhilHealth's alleged favoritism in issuing advanced payments to pandemic-affected health care institutions.
"Because we do not follow these strict rules, I personally, am not comfortable mentioning those names," said Cayetano, who is also a lawyer.
On the other hand, she said the Senate's recommendation for the immediate digitization and unification of PhilHealth's database, as well as the regular updating of its case system, would be "very important" in addressing the problem with fraudulent claims.
"If we have a unified and electronic record per person, we will ensure that all the data and the benefits...all of these information will make it much easier to conduct audits and this will address our fragmented data system," Cayetano said, thanking the panel for including her recommendations in the initial report.