Senators on Wednesday called on President Rodrigo Duterte to suspend PhilHealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales and other executives linked in the alleged corruption so investigators could access official documents.
Senators unanimously approved resolution No. 502 authored by Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri. It called for the preventive suspension of the senior PhilHealth officials after the National Bureau of Investigation, and the Commission on Audit (COA) reported they had problems obtaining documents from PhilHealth.
According to Zubiri, suspending the top officials would allow the NBI and the COA to “secure the pertinent records they need in order to perform their duties and properly investigate the alleged corruption.”
“Allowing these PhilHealth officials to remain in office may give them time to tamper with, conceal or destroy important records, and further hamper the investigations of the NBI, the COA, the Ombudsman and other investigative bodies conducting investigations on PhilHealth,” Zubiri’s resolution read.
“PhilHealth’s unwillingness to cooperate … could qualify as obstruction of justice … PhilHealth’s refusal or delay in the submission of pertinent documents and refusal to grant full access to its record system to (COA) is a blatant violation of the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines,” it added.
Ombudsman Samuel Martires issued a six-month-long preventive suspension against 13 former and current Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) officials.
According to the two separate suspension orders dated August 18, the incumbent Philhealth officials ordered suspended were:
- Dennis Mas, Senior Vice President, Management Services Sector
- Shirley Domingo, Vice President, Corporate Affairs Group
- Rodolfo del Rosario, Jr., Senior Vice President
- Leila Tuazon, Acting Senior Manager Operations, Audit Department
- Clementine Bautista, Vice President, Quality Assurance Group
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Senators urged Duterte to suspend more PhilHealth officials
Ombudsman also issued a suspension against former PhilHealth officials:
- Roy Ferrer
- Celestina Ma. Jude dela Serna
- Raul Dominic Badilla
- Israel Paragas
- Angelito Grande
- Lawrence Mijares and
- Eugenio Donatos II
- Ruben Basa
PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Ricardo Morales went on medical leave amid the Senate investigation on the alleged widespread corruption in the agency.
Meanwhile, Malacañang said Wednesday President Rodrigo Duterte still trusts Health Secretary Francisco Duque III despite his alleged involvement in the anomalies surrounding Philippine Health Insurance Corp.