President Duterte will only fire Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) president Ricardo Morales if there is evidence of his involvement in corruption in the agency.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after Morales admitted in a Senate hearing on Tuesday that corruption is still rampant in PhilHealth.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Roque said despite Morales' statement, his fate is still up to President Duterte.

"The President said he will not fire him unless there's evidence," he said on Wednesday.

"He (President Duterte) still does but he wants to see the evidence. If there's evidence that would affect his trust and confidence, of course, it will change," he added.

The Senate, the Office of the President (OP), and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission are all conducting investigations on allegations of corruption in PhilHealth.

Roque said he was hoping that the three bodies will produce the evidence that President Duterte was waiting for to decide on the fate of the PhilHealth chief.

"I'm hoping that all these investigations will document the evidence that the President wants to see," he said.

"I'm confident the President will also prompt his own office, Usec. Quitain, a former city administrator of his in Davao, to hasten the investigation ," he added.

Roque said Morales basically admitted in the Senate hearing that he was unable to stop corruption in PhilHealth, something that was expected of him to do when he was appointed by President Duterte last year.

"Let's just say he has articulated in the Senate that he is unable to actually deal with corruption in Philhealth. The President should have the resources to deal with corruption," he said.

"Any president of PhilHealth should be able to say 'I know what to do with corruption in the agency and I will do it,'" he added.

"I did not hear steps that he has taken to remove corruption in the agency. That to me is the most worrisome," he said.

Roque said the truth about the corruption in PhilHealth will soon be uncovered.

"We can only keep the stench from coming out for a brief period of time but you can't actually prevent it from seeping out and that is what's happening now," he said.

"The truth is being uncovered and I will just say that I'm very supportive of the investigations that are being conducted in a manner that accords General Morales and everyone in PhilHealth the right to due process," he added.

Convinced

Roque said that the allegation of former PhilHealth anti-fraud legal officer Thorsson Montes Keith about the corruption activities in PhilHealth was convincing.

Keith said in Tuesday's Senate hearing that the PhilHealth mafia, composed of high-ranking executives, was able to steal some P15 billion from the agency through several fraudulent schemes.  

Roque said Keith's allegation was convincing because it supports information he received last year that PhilHealth lost P174 billion to ghost claimants.

"When you look at what Atty. Keith said, perhaps he's giving us an accurate estimate because he's not the only one who says that," he said.

"That's convincing because I have another source who said that more or less that is the amount of money being lost annually," he added.

The Palace official said that what made Keith more believable was when Morales supposedly tried to discredit the resigned PhilHealth official.

"The initial attempt of General Morales to disclaim his (Keith's) employment as an anti-fraud investigator, I think, is crucial because that established the credibility of Atty. Keith," Roque said.

"I think General Morales knew that that's why he had to attempt to destroy his credibility by saying he had nothing to do with a fraud investigation," he added.

Morales on Tuesday denied protecting corrupt PhilHealth officials.