Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra announced the five government agencies that the task force he will form would first look into whether there is corruption.
In an interview with “Dobol B on News TV” on Wednesday, the five agencies identified by Guevarra are:
- Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth)
- Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)
- Bureau of Customs (BOC)
- Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)
- Land Registration Authority (LRA)
Guevarra hopes they can release the results of the investigation in the coming months.
“We are hoping in the next couple of months we’ll be able to produce something as a sign that the task force is actually doing its job,” the Secretary said.
On Tuesday, President Rodrigo Duterte instructed Guevarra to lead the investigation into corruption in all government agencies.
Duterte admitted that corruption continues in various agencies in his administration.
Through the DOJ task force, Duterte hopes that corruption will still be reduced before the end of his term in June 2022.
According to Guevarra, he will base the investigation’s priority on the agency’s corruption severity.
Guevarra names top 5 gov’t agencies prioritized in corruption probe
“Ayon doon sa memorandum na in-issue ng Presidente sa akin na i-consider ng task force ‘yung gravity o magnitude nu’ng anomalya o corrupt activity,” he said.
“So we’re talking here about values, magnitude of the funds involved, possible impact on the delivery of government services, to be considered in choosing kung alin ang iimbestigahan ng task force,” he added.
Guevarra admitted that this was the heaviest order given to him by the president.
In August, a PhilHealth official resigned due to the alleged corruption in the state-insurer.
Thorrsson Montes Keith, a former anti-fraud officer in PhilHealth, said that there is a mafia inside the agency. He said the agency wrongly credited almost P10 million to a rural bank in Bataan in an attempt to allegedly corrupt some funds.
Last week, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said he had also formed a task force within the DPWH to investigate corruption allegations in the agency.
Meanwhile, the Senate is currently investigating the alleged multi-billion-peso “pastillas” scheme in the Bureau of Immigration.