Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday welcomed the plan of the Senate to file criminal complaints against Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) officials for alleged corrupt activities.

(TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO /MANILA BULLETIN)
“Nothing prevents the Senate or the House from initiating their own complaints against erring PhilHealth officials,” he said.
“Both the Executive and Legislative branches, representing the interest of the people, are duty-bound to rid any government agency or entity of corruption and wrongdoing,” Guevarra said.
Last Friday, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed a criminal complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against former PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Ricardo Morales and eight other officials for their alleged involvement in irregularities in the implementation of the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM).
Guevarra said DoJ-led Task Force PhilHealth continues to investigate the State health insurer over corrupt activities.
“On the part of the DoJ, its work of leading and coordinating the efforts of the member agencies of Task Force PhilHealth has just begun,” the Justice Secretary said.
“As we continue to probe more deeply into the fraud centers in the State health insurer and build up cases, more names may be included and more complaints will be filed in the coming days,” he assured.
Following the filing of the complaint at the OMB, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the Senate could also file a complaint against those who were not named in the complaint filed by the NBI.
The senator said that Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and PhilHealth Senior Vice President Rodolfo del Rosario Jr. should have been included in the NBI complaint.
“Kasi kasama sila sa recommendation ng committee report na inadopt (They are part of the recommendation in the Senate committee report that was adopted),” Lacson said.