SCANDALOUS may be a mild word to describe the unearthing of the fraudulent claims and funds mismanagement at the state insurer, PhilHeath.
In Congress, Partylist Representative Rodante Marcoleta did the yeoman's job of investigating the senior officers of PhilHeath led by now resigned President and Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Morales, a retired Army general, together with the top officers of the agency.
During the hearings, Congressman Marcoleta's blood elevated due to the bare-faced lies uttered by the resource persons which included lawyer Rogelio Pocallan, who was cited in contempt and jailed at the Congress detention due to his misleading the congressmen and the public in an apparent cover-up of the anomalies at the state insurer.
So many anomalies have been unearthed while the probe is ongoing. Still, what is bewildering is the waste of too much money (in billions!), the members' money through contributions by the scheming officers who are commonly referred to as the PhilHeath's mafia. The said mafia has deeply rooted and widespread tentacles that have reached even the rank-and-file.
The gall and temerity of the officers and men of the PhilHeath! Wasting members' contributions that are better used to address patients' needs.
PhilHeath has a coterie of incompetent lawyers, mentally dishonest and unbelievably with fractured English, so full of grammatical lapses!
Representative Marcoleta rued the fact that these lawyers, which should have guided the Board of PhilHeath on sensitive issues, instead misled it and let is sign erroneous board resolutions.
These same lawyers who were expected to safeguard the funds of PhilHeath instead allowed accredited hospitals to hoodwink the state insurer, as in the case of Perpetual Succour Hospital which averaged P30 million monthly in claims but was given preferential treatment. This institution falsified claims and falsely lengthened patients' confinement. Do you know what sanction PhilHeath meted on erring Perpetual Succour? Instead of suspending it for three months, a misguided lawyer by the name of lawyer Pocallan recommended only a maximized fine, not commensurate to its offense. This bum of a lawyer rendered a legal opinion, accepted by the Board reversing the decision of the Court of Appeals. This decision was reportedly final and executory and yet the Board of Directors of PhilHeath relying on the legal opinion of lawyer Pocallan allowed the CA's decision to be modified. The finding of such irregularity jolted Representative Marcoleta no end and detested the lawyer's malfeasance. A case of magkano, papaano? Sounds familiar.
Imagine a P200-billion funded national agency like PhilHeath, being considered by its senior officers as a fat milking cow! There may be other GOCCs similarly situated. Let the ax fall where it must!