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Duque's silence over PhilHealth 'anomalies' puzzles Lacson, Hontiveros

Philippines | National

Duque's silence over PhilHealth 'anomalies' puzzles Lacson, Hontiveros

By Mario Casayuran

Senator Panfilo M. Lacson said today he would ask Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III why he has been silent over the widespread corruption at the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) when he appears before the Senate Committee of the Whole on Tuesday.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III
(NTF AGAINST COVID-19 / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)

Lacson thus joined opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros in asking Duque why he has been silent on the PhilHealth mess for weeks although he is the ex-officio chairman of that agency.

The issues surrounding the PhilHealth so far unearthed by the Senate are: Overpriced purchase of information technology (IT) equipment; uneven distribution of interim reimbursement mechanism (IRM); manipulation of financial statement of PhilHealth that was questioned by the Commission on Audit (COA); annual disallowances and suspension of payments by COA.

Lacson, committee vice chairman, told a radio station this morning that solution to the ills of PhilHealth lies in the uprooting of its in-house ‘’mafia’’ because even a regular change of its president would not do.

He said he would also ask Duque why he was silent during a video conference where PhilHealth officials were heatedly conversing with one another.

That video conference triggered the Senate probe.

Lacson said he wants to know from Duque what are his plans to address these issues and his recommendations to President Duterte.

Hopefully, the Senate Committee of the Whole would be able to terminate its third and last in-person and virtual public hearing on Tuesday, he said.

The committee held its first hearing on August 4 and its second on August 11.

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