Reports on the alleged destruction of important documents due to a roof leak in a Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) office in Region 1 is a “blatant insult" to the Senate hearings, Senator Francis Pangilinan said on Saturday, August 22.

"Bukod sa gawain ito ng mga guilty, isa itong lantarang pambabastos sa resulta ng mga pagdinig ng Senado (Besides this being an act of guilty persons, this is a blatant insult to the results of the Senate's hearings)," Pangilinan said in a statement.

The opposition senator joined his colleagues in calling on authorities to immediately secure documents from the PhilHealth to avoid hampering the investigations on the state insurer.

"We call on Health Secretary Duque, who is chairman of the PhilHealth board, to show leadership now and order to secure the documents. We call as well on the other Cabinet secretaries on the PhilHealth board to act now and ensure that the documents are intact," he said.

Aside from the PhilHealth Region 1 office, Pangilinan said he was also informed that documents were also "being destroyed" in Regions 3, 8 and 11.

"Their destruction is equivalent to burying the body of the victim of their crime. Their destruction is another set of crimes," he said, citing existing laws penalizing obstruction of justice, concealment or destruction of documents.

Senators feared that the severe roof leak in the PhilHealth's office in Dagupan City, Pangasinan, was deliberate to destroy the documents that would prove the supposed irregularities in the agency's transactions.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri questioned the timing of the incident.

"Ilang beses nang umulan nitong buwan na ito, bakit ngayon ang biglang, tapos na ang imbestigasyon, kukunin na ang dokumento, ngayon lang po nagkaroon ng baha dyan sa kanilang opisina...kung saan talamak -- mabuting malaman ng taongbayan -- na maraming kaso sa Region 1 na talamak ang nangyari na ghost patients, irregularities sa mga payment sa mga ospital, may mga false claims (It has rained so many times this month, why, when investigations are almost done and documents will be retrieved, would it suddenly rain in their Region 1 office, where -- the people should know -- that cases of ghost patients, irregularities in the payment of hospitals and false claims are prevalent)," he said in a separate interview with radio DWIZ.

"Timing pa na iyon ang binaha (And of all places, that’s where it got flooded),” he added.

The PhilHealth, however, said no documents were destroyed by the roof leak and that "everything accounted for./“The agency also said that it remains open to any investigation.

The Senate Committee of the Whole is expected to release soon its report and recommendations on how to address the claims of widespread corruption and anomalies in the PhilHealth.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said copies of the committee report will be forwarded to investigating authorities for the filing of cases against implicated officials.