President Duterte said yesterday that he is looking into reshuffling officials at the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. following losses they suffered due to fraudulent claims.
Duterte made the statement a day after he instructed PhilHealth to institute criminal actions against officials and employees who were part of the “ghost” dialysis treatment scheme. Two whistleblowers claimed that WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Center in Novaliches, Quezon City had been filing claims for dialysis sessions for patients who have died.
In an interview with his friend Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, Duterte said that by the amount of money lost because of the fraud, he is forced to reshuffle PhilHealth’s ranks when he returns to Malacañang.
“For the sheer amount that was lost, I have to reorganize your entity, change maybe all of you, install a more…systems of accounting and accountability,” Duterte said. “Bakit umabot ng ganoon kalaki without the necessary checks along the way? When it becomes clear that the amount is getting big, somebody should look somewhere. I really do not know how to do it, I am not a systems analyst,” he added.
“Was there a kind of checks that you installed because if none, then we have fallen short of our duty to really protect the money,” Duterte said.
Duterte said he cannot wait 20 days for PhilHealth to finish its probe and ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to arrest the owner of WellMed.
“’Yung administrative na sinasabi ni Roy kanina that they are initiating an investigation and they have 20 days to… That’s s**t to me. I’ll tell them, ‘Arrest the idiot and bring him to Malacañang.’ I’ll ask him, ‘Tell me the truth or I’ll throw you off the river,'” he said. “The NBI should take over by tomorrow and start to summon everybody and if the owner of that Wellness thing there, where these fraudulent claims were discovered, arrest them,” he added.
“That is my order: Arrest them. Place there in the blotter ninyo, ‘Upon orders of the…’ Arrest them and investigate them right away. No ifs, no buts,” Duterte said.
Duterte said that while he has no concrete evidence, he is looking into whether or not government officials or employees are involved in the fraud.
“What is really worse is it is public money. So I am very strict. I do not want to hurt people. At this time I do not have the evidence or proof so that I am not in the position to say that there are government men involved,” he said. “Pero ‘yung mga ospital nagcha-charge maski wala na ‘yung mga pasyente o ‘yung mga dialysis cases, ‘yun sila ang nagfa-file ng fraudulent claim. That’s fraud. So sila ‘yung unahin ko,” Duterte added.
“But I am looking into any culpability of an employee of government joining, or in cahoots, or in conspiracy, kasi talagang hahabulin ko ito.”
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the NBI will actively investigate the controversy. “The NBI will actively investigate this long-running controversy. I have Instructed Director Dante Gierran of the NBI,” Guevarra disclosed.
The Justice Secretary noted that the NBI Anti-Fraud Division will investigate the case.
The Department of Justice added that Duterte’s directive to the NBI to look into the matter is part of his campaign against corruption.
“The President’s directive for the NBI to investigate the ghost dialysis scam is consistent with his anti-corruption effort,” said DoJ spokesman Undersecretary Markk Perete. “The ghost dialysis scam shows how corruption affects the most vulnerable among us by depriving them of their most basic needs,” he added. (Argyll Geducos with a report from Jeffrey Damicog)
