ASIDE from the information technology (IT) department, the legal department of state-owned Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has been a “very ripe source of irregularities”, according to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
In his report to President Rodrigo Duterte, which was aired Tuesday, August 25, 2020, Guevarra said the task force created to investigate PhilHealth has zeroed in on what he called “centers of fraud” in the state-owned insurance firm.
Guevarra also said they have broached the idea to the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) of creating an interim management committee for PhilHealth.
Aside from filing legal action against those behind the corruption in PhilHealth, Guevarra said they hoped to introduce structural reforms, starting with the reorganization of the state-owned firm.
He said fraudulent activities at PhilHealth seemed to be happening at the IT system and the legal office.
Guevarra said the task force’s impression is that PhilHealth’s IT system is “fragmented and can be easily manipulated” because there is no centralized control over the management information system.
The legal sector also “seems to be one of the biggest sources of allegedly fraudulent activities,” Guevarra said.
“We’re still conducting our investigation, Mr. President, but so far, in fact-finding and investigation reports we have received so far, including those from the Senate and the House of Representatives, it seems that the legal sector is a very ripe source of irregularities,” he added.
The task force is also looking into the interim reimbursement mechanism (IRM), which provides health care institutions with emergency funds during natural disasters and other fortuitous events.
In relation to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, PhilHealth allowed healthcare institutions to apply for IRM funds equivalent to 90 days of benefit claims in 2019.
Guevarra said he has asked all the component agencies that make up the task force to expedite their investigations or special audits, or resolve pending cases involving officials of PhilHealth.
So far, Guevarra said the Office of the Ombudsman has placed 13 former and incumbent key PhilHealth officials under preventive suspension for cases that were filed even before the task force was created.
The task force has also created composite teams to follow through the information collected during their meetings or hearings with resource persons.
The composite teams are composed of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), state auditors, the Anti-Money Laundering Council and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission.
“Even as these composite teams are going through the process of investigating more deeply these alleged irregularities, we are also conducting lifestyle checks of certain key officials of PhilHealth so that we can relate - we can connect - the irregularities that we uncovered during the investigation with the lifestyle of these people,” Guevarra said.
“Our ultimate objective within the time limit that you gave us is to be able to file legal action in the Office of the Ombudsman and also, we will try to make use of the reports that we received from the Senate and House of Representatives,” he added. (Marites Villamor-Ilano/SunStar Philippines)