Senators welcomed on Tuesday President Duterte's appointment of former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Dante Gierran at the helm of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and the revamp of the agency's regional officials.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Gierran was a "very good choice" to lead the state insurer amid persistent claims of corruption and funds mismanagement.

"Director Gierran is a very good choice as Philhealth chief. Aside from a clean record, he has investigative skills that can crack the whip in ferreting out anomalies in the agency," Sotto said in a text message to reporters.

Senator Panfilo Lacson said he also does not question Gierran's integrity due to his background in leading the NBI. He, however, said he hopes that the new PhilHealth chief will not be manipulated by unscrupulous people surrounding the corporation.

"Walang kontrobersya na hinarap ang NBI, maayos ang pamamalakad sa NBI nang siya ang director. On that note, wala tayong masabi na kinasangkutan niyang kontrobersya (The NBI did not figure in any controversy, he led the NBI well when he was its director. On that note, we cannot cite any controversy that he was involved in)," Lacson said in an interview with ABS-CBN's Teleradyo.

"Pangalawa, I just hope na hindi siya ma-manipulate ng mga tao inside and outside of PhilHealth. Alam naman natin na for the longest time, nauuubos ang pera ng PhilHealth sa anomalya at kalokohan (Second, I just hope that he will not be manipulated by people inside and outside of PhilHealth. We know that for the longest time, the funds of PhilHealth are depleting because of anomalies and fraud)," he said.

"I hope and I mean it -- that PhilHealth will not be Dante’s Inferno," Lacson also said of Gierran in a tweet Monday night.

On President Duterte's order to fire all PhilHealth regional vice presidents, Lacson said this might not be easy to implement.

"Removing all the RVP's of PhilHealth may be easier ordered than implemented considering that a number of them are protected by the civil service law. This is not to mention that it is unjust and unfair to those who are not involved in shenanigans in PhilHealth, much less being accused of any crime or facing administrative cases," Lacson said.

Senator Grace Poe said she hopes for "drastic" reforms in PhilHealth under Gierran's leadership.

"Our people expect no less than a person of unassailable integrity and competence at the helm of PhilHealth to implement drastic institutional reforms," Poe said.

"The job at hand is tough. However, it is critical in safeguarding not just the health but the wealth of the Filipino people," she added.

Poe said the reshuffle in the leadership, however, "should not absolve those who will be found remiss in their obligations, which have brought PhilHealth to its current ailing state."

"Dapat pa ring habulin at parusahan ang mga corrupt at nagpabaya sa tungkulin. Ang pagnanakaw sa kaban ng bayan ay pagkakait sa ating mga kababayan ng kanilang karapatan sa maayos na serbisyong pangkalusugan (The government should still go after and penalize those corrupt and negligent of their responsibilities. Stealing from the people's coffers equates to depriving them of their right to proper health services)," she added.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri expressed optimism that Gierran will be able to track down the members of the so-called "mafia" in PhilHealth.

"I believe Gierran will be able to untangle the mafia web inside PhilHealth and stop the nefarious shenanigans happening within. He must move swiftly to stop all the leakages and unnecessary loss of the people's money in the state insurance agency," he said.

He also lauded President Duterte's order to sack and reorganize all PhilHealth regional vice presidents.

"A top to bottom revamp is needed to end the mafia that is controlling all the transactions within the State Health Insurance agency. They should continue as well the revamp to middle management and field managers who had shown collusion with the mafia by their none action of cases filed against erring and fraudulent hospitals and clinics by PhilHealth's anti-fraud division," he said.

"All that could be easily traced as there is a clear pattern of protection for 'colluding' institutions that give pay-offs and the continued harassment, as well as none assistance to those who do not 'cooperate'," Zubiri said.

Senator Joel Villanueva also welcomed Gierran's appointment, but also reiterated his call for a "system change" in the PhilHealth.

"There are two things that are immediate: we need to get rid of the syndicates in Philhealth. We expect to see the members of the Philhealth mafia go to jail. Second, we need to improve the accountability and audit system of Philhealth to make sure that we don’t get ghost patients, overpayments, false claims and up casing. It is the broken system that breed corruption. If we don’t fix the system, even if we weed out the syndicates now, a new mafia will just emerge in the future. We need system change and change in people," Villanueva said.

"I am confident that former director Gierran is capable of doing this. Of course, we are here to support sound policy reform to make these changes feasible," he added.

Sen. Imee Marcos also vouched for Gierran's integrity.

"With his unique investigative background, I hope he can finally get to the bottom of the quagmire that is Philhealth," Marcos said.

"The President's order to remove regl directors is no doubt based on the task force findings, from the Senate's own investigations. Certainly, not all regions were equal -- some were far more equal than others! I think the legal and money trails should be further cleared at the regl level, where upcasing, outright payment of fraudulent claims, wholesale fakery of membership, other scams often began," she added.