BY JEFFREY DAMICOG
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has created Task Force-Philhealth which will investigate alleged corrupt activities at the state-run health insurer.
NBI Officer-In-Charge Eric Distor said he ordered the creation of the task force to “intensify and hasten” the agency’s ongoing investigation on anomalies at PhilHealth.
Distor said the jobs of the task force include “the audit of the PhilHealth finances and the conduct of lifestyle checks on its officials and employees.”
“Task Force-Philhealth will also coordinate with the Department of Justice (DoJ) on the progress of the investigation,” he added.
The task force is composed of agents and investigators of NBI’s Bureau’s Anti-Graft Division (AGD), Anti-Fraud Division (AFD), Special Action Unit (SAU), Computer Crimes Division (CCD), Special Operations Group (SOG) and Digital Forensic Laboratory (DFL).
“The Task Force shall be headed by NBI-NCR Regional Director Cesar Bacani and shall be under the supervision of Deputy Director for Regional Operations Service (DDROS) Antonio Pagatpat to be assisted by Deputy Director for Investigation Service (DDInvS) Vicente De Guzman III,” the NBI said.
The NBI has been investigating PhilHealth since last year over the so-called “ghost dialysis scam” involving WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Center Corporation. The DoJ has already filed a number of charges in court against officials of both PhilHealth and Wellmed over the scam. (Jeffrey Damicog)
