BY VANNE TERRAZOLA
After three grueling hearings, the Senate has decided to terminate its investigation on the alleged corruption in the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
Senate President Vicente Sotto III, chairman of the Committee of the Whole that conducted the legislative inquiries on the controversies hounding the state insurer, said on Wednesday that he will prepare the panel’s report and recommendations as to the actions to be undertaken by government to address the anomalies in the agency.
“I’m formulating the committee report soon. We are done with the Carousel of denials and lies!” Sotto said in a text message sent to reporters.
Other senators also thought that the Senate had gathered enough evidence to prove that irregularities have been happening in PhilHealth.
“The evidence, supported by official documents and testimonies provided by resource persons who testified under oath so far gathered by the Senate Committee of the Whole during the three, weekly hearings, are sufficient enough to indict people responsible, directly or otherwise for the systematic corrupt practices and malevolent acts that have practically dragged the PhilHealth to its present financial death bed,” Lacson said in a separate message.
“Marami pang pwedeng i-uncover sa PhilHealth, but I think we have more than enough to move forward on what we have,” Senator Grace Poe, for her part, said.
Sotto said officials of the PhilHealth who were implicated in the alleged corrupt practices could explain and defend themselves before the Department of Justice (DoJ) and Ombudsman. (Vanne Elaine Terrazola)
