(Eagle News)–The Senate committee of the whole probing the allegations of corruption in PhilHealth has recommended the filing of charges against Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and resigned PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales.
The committee’s 58-page report said apart from Duque and Morales, charges should be filed against the following former and incumbent officials:
- Rodolfo del Rosario Jr., senior vice president for legal sector
- Jovita Aragona, senior vice president for information management sector
- Calixto Gabuya Jr., acting senior manager of the Information, Technology and Management department
- Arnel de Jesus, executive vice president and chief operating officer
- Renato Limsiaco Jr., senior vice president for fund management sector
- Israel Pargas, senior vice president for health finance policy sector
- Dennis Mas, senior vice president of the management service sector
The report said Duque, Morales, Limsiaco, De Jesus and Pargas should be charged for violations of the Revised Penal Code and the Anti-Graft and Corruption law for their “improper and illegal implementation of the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism” against its authorized purpose under the law, and for their grave abuse of discretion or gross negligence in ascertaining IRM beneficiaries without a valid criteria.
It said they should also be held criminally liable for their “failure to withhold tax liabilities of healthcare institutions to which they released IRM funds, and for their act of “charging the corporate operating budget for failure to withhold the taxes in the advancement of funds through the IRM.”
The report said administrative charges should also be filed against Mas and Morales for not implementing the board resolutions on courtesy resignations, against De Jesus and Morales for violating the Commission on Audit rules on the period of liquidation in issuing Memorandum Circular 2020-032, and against del Rosario for his “failure to act and gross neglect of duties relative to the cases pending in their department.”
The report also urged the filing of charges against all other PhilHealth employees and officials who “connived with and participated in the consummation” of the illegal acts.
The report was based on the recommendations of Senators Panfilo Lacson, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Koko Pimentel, Sonny Angara, Franklin Drilon, Pia Cayetano, Grace Poe, Francis Tolentino, and Cynthia Villar.
The Senate panel’s probe, which was done in aid of legislation, is apart from the probe being conducted by the House of Representatives also in aid of legislation.
A task force and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission are also conducting their own probes.