The Senate Committee of the Whole ended its inquiry on the alleged irregularities in PhilHealth and is ready to draft its report, several senators said.
According to Senate President Vicente Sotto III, the upper chamber is done with the state insurer’s “carousel of denials and lies.”
“I think General [Ricardo] Morales should just appear before the Department of Justice together with his Execomm and other officials, and later with the Ombudsman. I’m formulating the committee report soon,” Sotto said in a message.
For Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, the panel already “exhausted the hearings,” which lasted around 10 hours each.
Senator Panfilo Lacson also believes they already gathered enough evidence during the Senate hearings to identify erring PhilHealth officials.
“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 enough to indict people responsible directly or otherwise,” he said in a statement.
“Without tough punitive action against those involved in such shenanigans, we may never see the end of the vicious cycle of corruption that has plagued PhilHealth,” he added.
Senate ends hearing on PhilHealth irregularities
Senator Drilon agreed that the evidence which surfaced during the hearings would give a strong case.
“Tatayo ‘yan. Kung naghahanap sila ng ebidensya na may tumanggap ng pera, sa batas may tinatawag na frustrated crime. Ibig sabihin, nagawa mo na lahat ng kailangan gawin maliban lamang sa pagnakaw,” Drilon said in a radio interview.
‘”Yan po ay tinatawag na frustrated crime, ito po frustrated plunder kung sasabihin nilang di pa nila natatanggap. Ano ‘yung P15 billion na cash advances? Sigurado ako wala na ‘yan eh, di na nila maliliquidate ‘yan. Ito po ay kinuha nila sa Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM). Talagang kabastusan ‘yan sa pera ng taumbayan,” he added.
Ombudsman Samuel Martires already issued a six-month-long preventive suspension against 13 former and current Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) officials.
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.