Two officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) have appealed the suspension imposed on them by Ombudsman Samuel Martires last Aug. 18.
Senior Vice President Dennis Mas of the Management Services Sector and Attorney IV Lawrence Mijares, who is the head of the Legal Services Office, said they have been suspended without first being furnished copies of the complaint filed against them.
In their urgent motion to set aside and reconsider preventive suspension filed on Sept. 2, Mas and Mijares said they were deprived of the opportunity to meet the charges filed against them because they were not even informed of the nature and cause made against them in accordance to due process of law.
They said they were suspended "out of the blue" and it only shifted the attention away from the brewing controversies currently hounding PhilHealth.
"Sadly, the preventive suspension distracted the attention of the public and the pertinent government agencies who are interested in the truth and abatement of massive corruption involving the much needed public health funds," they said.
Mas and Mijares added that there were no other supporting statements in the suspension order that would explain how their actions would qualify for Oppression, Grave Misconduct, and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service.
At the same time, they said, the suspension order cited no particular law, administrative regulation, or public policy that they allegedly violated. They added that the order is "practically devoid" of any facts and circumstances that would support the conclusion that they should be preventively suspended.
The order dated Aug. 18 said: "This is pursuant to the investigation being conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman relative to the respondents' alleged oppressive actions in filing retaliatory cases against complainants when they a) testified against the respondent in the House of Representatives; b) refused to cooperate with management in accrediting institutions; c) were vocal about the policies that threaten the financial stability of PhilHealth; and d) filed (some of the complainants) administrative and criminal actions against respondents Ferrer, former DoH Secretary Ubial, Board Members Salvador, Lareza, and de la Serna."
Mas and Mijares said they can only surmise that the case is about their involvement in the administrative disciplinary cases against the complainants. Without all the requisite facts, they are grasping at straws as to how they will defend themselves before the Office of the Ombudsman.
Mas and Mijares tagged the complainants as the real "mafia" of PhilHealth and said that their propaganda is "in full swing" now that they are on the verge of being exposed of their crimes.
All of a sudden, they said, the Ombudsman issued the preventive suspension order -- and the matter is "entirely alien" to the current public uproar.
"It is really ironic that the order of preventive suspension came out at the height of the burning issue of alleged massive corruption in PhilHealth. The clamor has been for the truth and for full accounting of the much-needed health funds especially with the shadowing pandemic engulfing the entire world," they said.
Mas and Mijares accused the complainants of forum shopping in order to escape their own preventive suspensions and administrative disciplinary cases before the Civil Service Commission, which are still pending.
Since the complainants are a "polluted source," Mas and Mijares said they can never provide strong evidence because they are driven by their "selfish motives."
Mas and Mijares are asking the Ombudsman to set aside its preventive suspension and "that the matter be heard anew," and that they be given a full copy of the records of the instant case so that they can "intelligently defend themselves"
Only the last pages of the two suspension orders against the PhilHealth officials were released to the media on Aug. 19. The Ombudsman said the cases were not related to the controversies surrounding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health crisis but likewise were unable to provide the media with details concerning the cases.
In the first suspension order, officials were placed under preventive suspension for six months without pay "in consonance with Section 9 of Administrative Order No. 17, amending Rule III of Administrative Order No. 07 (Rules of Procedure of the Office of the Ombudsman) and Section 24 of R.A. 6770 (Ombudsman Act of 1989)."
They are former Acting President Roy B. Ferrer, who was appointed as an Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health (DOH) earlier this February; former interim president Celestina Ma. Jude Dela Serna; Chief Operating Officer Ruben John Basa; Mas; Vice President for Corporate Affairs Group Shirley Domingo; Office of the Senior Vice President, Legal Sector SVP Rodolfo del Rosario Jr.; Chief of Staff Raul Dominic Badilla; Health Finance Policy Sector SVP Israel Pargas; Angelito Grande; Mijares; and Acting Senior Manager of the Operations Audit Department Leila Tuazon.
The next suspension order included Ferrer, Basa, Quality Assurance Group Vice President Clementine Bautista, Grande, and Field Operations Division Chief Engr. Eugenio Donatos II.
The order stated that "the evidence on record shows that the guilt of respondents is strong and the charges against them involve Grave Misconduct, Oppression, and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service which may warrant removal from the service."
Since their continued stay in office might prejudice the case filed against them, the Ombudsman ordered their preventive suspension.