A workers union of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. sought Health Secretary Francisco Duque III’s comment on the numerous allegations of corruption against the top officials of the agency.
Duque, chairman of the PhilHealth board, has been deafeningly silent on the Senate inquiry where former employees of the state-run insurer accused officials of stealing P15 billion in public funds, said PhilHealth Workers for Hope, Integrity, Transparency, and Empowerment (PhilHealth-WHITE) president Ma. Fe Francisco.
“Gusto namin siyang mapakinggan (we want to hear him), what he has to say about what is going on,” she told ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo.
PhilHealth WHITE earlier urged President Rodrigo Duterte to appoint a ‘caretaker’ for the state insurer after PhilHealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales and Executive Vice President Arnel De Jesus filed medical leaves and sought approval to skip the Senate hearing due to existing health conditions.
On top of this, Duque should not and cannot be PhilHealth’s caretaker as he is also facing a separate investigation for alleged lapses in the country’s pandemic response, Francisco said.
She urged fellow employees to “clean up and disinfect PhilHealth.”
