Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Tuesday denied allegations that Philippine Health Insurance Corporation lost billions of pesos in funds due to fraudulent schemes within the agency.
The health chief maintained that the current administration has “zero tolerance” policy for corruption.
Attending the Senate Committee of the Whole’s third inquiry on PhilHealth’s issues, Duque belied claims about the ₱154-billion loss, stressing there is “no such finding” in the latest annual report published by the Commission on Audit.
“I have clarified this before with the Blue Ribbon committee last year… But I will repeat it to set the record straight. There is no such thing as a ₱154-billion loss,” Duque reiterated.
“In fact, I am presenting it to you this June 10, 2020 letter from the COA chairman confirming that there is no such finding in the published COA annual audit reports.”
Earlier this month, the Senate, along with the House of Representatives and other bodies from the executive and judiciary branches, launched a separate investigation into fresh allegations against the state health insurer, including the supposed corruption involving some of its officials.
Duque assured that the government has yet to release funds for PhilHealth’s controversial ₱2.1-billion information and communication technology project, noting that it was still in the “proposal stage.”
“We need to assure that any release of government money will be scrutinized in detail,” he said.
Meanwhile, a former PhilHealth official noted that Duque had years-long influence and connection within the agency, and it should have been easy for him to have knowledge on what goes on inside. Former anti-fraud legal officer Thorrsson Keith even tagged Duque as the “godfather” of the PhilHealth mafia.
Duque denied such accusations, calling them baseless and “malicious.”
