(Eagle News) — PhilHealth on Thursday, Aug. 6, denied the corruption allegations made by a newly-resigned employee against its senior officials.
In a statement, PhilHealth said its senior officials never pocketed around P15 billion as alleged by Thorrsson Montes Keith during a Senate hearing on Aug. 4.
Keith was PhilHealth’s anti-fraud officer who cited “widespread corruption” as one of the reasons for his resignation in his letter to PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales in July.
According to the state insurer, Keith, in the first place, was hired as a job order contractor to do staff work under the Office of the President, “and is in no position to discuss office matters being in the corporation for only nine months.”
In any case, PhilHealth said the fund alluded to by Keith was the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism that was released to 711 health care facilities “to assure efficient response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“There has never been ‘favoritism’ in the release of these funds as earlier alleged, rather the releases followed existing guidelines,” the state insurer said.
According to PhilHealth, contrary to reports that hospitals no longer need to account for these funds, the IRM is governed by “government accounting and auditing rules, hence, it is subject to liquidation by its recipients.”
PhilHealth regional offices, however, the state insurer said, have been given “flexibility in the timing of liquidations recognizing the situations in each hospital.”
PhilHealth also noted the support of the Philippine Hospital Association, which it said expressed their support for the IRM’s implementation “in all levels of hospitals (including infirmaries) to help them ‘financially cope with the demands of increasing its capacity to respond to COVID-19.”
“(Keith’s) malicious claims not substantiated by evidence were obviously made to malign officers that rejected his ambitions for higher offices which he is not qualified for,” PhilHealth said.
During the Senate hearing, Keith said there was a “mafia” in PhilHealth that included officials of the executive committee.
Keith also hit PhilHealth for its proposal for supposedly overpriced IT equipment, and cash advances, among others.
Although Morales admitted there were fraudulent transactions in PhilHealth, he said these would be precisely addressed by the proposed IT equipment, which he noted was not overpriced.
Morales has yet to issue a statement on the other allegations made by Keith.
The Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission said it has recommended the filing of charges or the firing of 36 PhilHealth officials over corruption to the Office of the President.