BY JEFFREY DAMICOG
Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) President and Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Morales has failed in his main task to rid the agency of corruption, said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.
“When he was placed there by the President to replace a board and a previous president because of the Wellmed scam, our expectation is that he would take concrete steps to rid the agency of corruption,” he said during an interview over CNN Philippines.
However, Roque lamented that Morales admitted during the Senate inquiry on Tuesday that “corruption was still rampant.”
“I did not hear steps he had taken to remove corruption in the agency. That to me is the most worrisome,” said Roque,
Aside from the legislative probes, Roque noted that President Duterte has directed Malacanang Undersecretary Melchor Quitain to conduct an investigation over alleged corruption taking place at the PhilHealth.
“I am just happy two branches of government are investigating these allegations of fraud,” he said.
On the other hand, Roque said it’s up to Morales to either go on leave or step down while investigation of alleged corruption is ongoing.
“I am not in a position to tell him what to do,” the spokesman said.
“The President has said that he will not fire him unless there is evidence,” said Roque.
“As I said our Universal Health Care Law cannot succeed unless we rid PhilHealth of corruption,” he added. (Jeffrey Damicog)
