BY HANNAH TORREGOZA
The Senate is ready to recommend the filing of falsification, malversation and anti-graft charges against top officials of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) who are allegedly involved in corruption.
Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, vice chair of the Senate committee of the whole, said that after holding three hearings on the issue, senators are now drafting the committee report, which they aim to release this week.
Lacson said the Senate is also coordinating closely with the Department of Justice (DoJ) to ensure that the charges will be filed accordingly against the personalities involved in the anomalies in the state health insurance agency.
According to Lacson, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has already received all the necessary documents they need to pursue their investigation on PhilHealth.
“Pero sa parte ng Senado, magrerekomenda kami ng kung anong legislative action na dapat gawin,” Lacson said in an interview over GMANewsTV.
Apart from malversation of public funds, Lacson said the Senate panel discovered that the PhilHealth officials who have been identified in the anomalies in the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) policy and the overpriced Information Technology (IT) program were also culpable for violating the National Internal Revenue Code and falsification of documents.
According to Lacson, among those they would recommend for filing of charges would be PhilHealth president Gen. Ricardo Morales, Renato Limsiaco, head of the fund management sector; Jovita Aragona and Calixto Gabuya who were responsible for the IT project.
“Kung matatandaan mo inamin ni Gen Morales nang tanong ko sino nag-authorize, ng pag-approve at pag-release ng pera. Sabi niya ako,” Lacson said. (Hannah Torregoza)
