Philippines
National
Gordon believes there is not enough evidence linking Duque to PhilHealth anomalies
Gordon believes there is not enough evidence linking Duque to PhilHealth anomalies
Senator Richard Gordon on Wednesday said he believes there was not enough evidence directly linking Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to the anomalies surrounding the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), contrary to a Senate committee report.
Gordon made the statement after Senate President Vicente Sotto III released the Senate Committee of the Whole’s findings and recommended the filing of malversation and graft charges against Duque and other PhilHealth officials for abusing the agency’s Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) funds.
Nevertheless, Gordon said he will sign the committee report “with reservations,” particularly on the charges that were recommended against Duque, who is part of the PhilHealth board.
“Yes, I am signing it, but with some reservations. I largely support it. I think it was a very good report,” Gordon said in an interview on ANC Headstart.
“But I always want to be fair, I don’t want o be seen as supporting Duque but I have a copy here he was being blamed for the IRM mess when in fact, he was never there. He never participated. He was absent,” he further said.
“So I think I need to manifest that on the floor today. We must be seen as fair,” said the Senate blue ribbon committee chair.
“If there are other things they can charge him with, then they’ll have to come up with something. In my view, when I make accusations, I make sure that I have a piece of paper that supports it,” he added.
In his view, Gordon said Duque “inherited a Department of Health (DOH) that is actually a snake pit” and is certain that there are people in PhilHealth who really favored certain hospitals.
He also reiterated his belief that the real fraud in PhilHealth are the regional vice presidents assigned all over the country and people in the upper positions of the agency.
On Tuesday, the Senate committee of the whole recommended the filing of malversation and graft for the “improper and illegal implementation of the IRM policy against Duque, resigned PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales and other executive officers of the state health insurance agency.
“We are in the middle of a pandemic and we should not change horses mid-stream… However, it may be a worse course of action for this august chamber to sit idly by knowing how mismanaged PhilHealth is,” Sotto said in his sponsorship speech in plenary.
According to Sotto, PhilHealth is “hemorrhaging” due to the inefficient running of the corporation which is compounded by the corrupt practices of its officials inside.