A union of workers at the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to “stop appointing (persons) who are not qualified” to run the government agency.

“To President Duterte, please stop appointing (people) who are not qualified. Kasi po ang ahensiya po ang natatamaan kung magtalaga po tayo ng unqualified sa PhilHealth. Papalit palit ng liderato kasi hindi po kwalipakado. (The agency is affected if you appoint unqualified persons in PhilHealth. There’s always a change in leadership because unqualified officials are appointed.),” said Fe Francisco, president of the PhilHealth Workers for Hope, Integrity, Transparency, and Empowerment (WHITE) in a DZMM interview on Friday, August 28.

According to Francisco, the President should appoint somebody who knows how to run the state insurer.

“Magtalaga po tayo ng kwalipikado, isang expert to handle PhilHealth,” Francisco said. (Let’s appoint a qualified one, an expert to handle PhilHealth)

Francisco said that WHITE submitted to the PhilHealth board its recommendation that the workers would have a representative in the “caretaker” committee. (READ: PhilHealth workers ‘demoralized’ following execs ‘corruption’ mess)

“There is a leadership vacuum. Hindi lang po ang presidente ang nag resign (Not only the president resigned). Our top posts have been vacated, there’s a leadership vacuum. We are requesting a caretaker committee of which the labor is represented in that committee,” Francisco said.

On Wednesday, PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales submitted his resignation to Malacañang and it was accepted by Duterte early Thursday. On Tuesday, August 25, Duterte relieved Morales from office for health reasons, as he was battling cancer.

Duterte appointed Morales, a retired Army general, to PhilHealth in June 2019 precisely to flush out corruption in the state agency. (READ: From military to PhilHealth: Who is Ricardo Morales?)

A whistleblower alleged during the Senate hearings that Morales was a “coddler or may have become the new leader of syndicate in PhilHealth.”

Morales denied the allegations.

PhilHealth legal sector senior vice president Rodolfo del Rosario Jr also resigned on Wednesday. He was earlier suspended for 6 months to give way to an investigation by an executive task force led by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Del Rosario said he could not afford to be jobless for 6 months. 

Del Rosario was accused of being among the 4 members of the so-called mafia in PhilHealth.

PhilHealth board member Alejandro Cabading said in a Senate probe that this mafia allegedly ran fraudulent schemes through which some executives might have pocketed around P15 billion.

On Thursday, the PhilHealth board named Arnel de Jesus, PhilHealth executive vice president and chief operating officer, as officer-in-charge in the wake of the resignation of Morales. (READ: How to run PhilHealth? OIC has health, qualification issues)

De Jesus’ qualifications were questioned by a lawmaker in a House panel on August 27. He has skipped congressional hearings, citing medical reasons. – Rappler.com