That there is massive corruption in the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) is obvious, and the agency’s boss Ricardo Morales is either “blindsided” or complicit in the mess, said senators leading a probe into the allegations.

A year into his term as PhilHealth president and CEO with specific orders to curb corruption, Morales has failed to stop the agency’s funds bleeding. Instead, he appeared nonchalant as evidence of gross irregularity under his watch were presented to him during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, August 4.

The next day, August 5, Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senator Panfilo Lacson, who both led the hearing, told reporters in separate interviews that they were dissatisfied with Morales’ showing.

“I was expecting an indignant reaction, that, ‘No, that’s unacceptable! That won’t do!’ And yet he was defending them. That was the sad part about it,” Sotto said.

“So at the very least, I think he is blindsided. Now I hope the other side is not true, which is that he knew it’s been going on. That would be grave and I hope that’s not the case,” Sotto added.

“There’s what we call ‘sin of commission and omission.’ If I were to base it on [Morales’] responses yesterday, at the very least he has omission,” Lacson said.

Morales’ own head executive assistant Etrobal Laborte had raised red flags on some proposed transactions. Instead of acting on a trusted aide’s advice, Morales endorsed the proposals.

“Either napakatanga mo kasi isang taon ka na mini-mislead, nami- mislead ka pa rin, or co-opted ka na. ‘Pag co-opted, mas masama ‘yan. Ibig sabihin kasama ka na riyan. ‘Yan lang mga possibilities. Wala na akong makitang third possibility,” Lacson said.

(Either you’re so stupid because you’ve been misled for a year and still being misled, or you’re co-opted. If co-opted, then that’s worse. That means you’re already part of it. Those are the only possibilities. I can’t think of a third possibility.)

Blatant anomalies

During Tuesday’s probe, witnesses from PhilHealth itself revealed irregularities in billions of pesos worth of procurements, fund disbursements, and doctored financial statements.

Lacson said the corruption in the government-controlled corporation is “too blatant, too brazen.”

Alejandro Cabading, an accountant and a member of PhilHealth’s board of directors, presented evidence that the agency’s information and communications technology (ICT) budget proposal for 2020 was bloated by P734 million.

An earlier plan to procure 15 network switches, besides being flagged by the Commission on Audit as “disadvantageous,” was nearly quadrupled in cost. The total market price should have been around P939,360, but the amount stated in the proposal was P4.8 million.

This was one of the proposals Laborte had brought up with Morales, and he gave Lacson documents to back his claim. Laborte on Tuesday backed out of the probe, after sensing a threat to his security, Lacson said.

Senators also scored PhilHealth executives for authorizing the release of some P14 billion through its Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM). The program advances the reimbursement of members’ insurance claims to hospitals and clinics directly hit by “fortuitous events,” supposedly cutting the long queue and tedious bureaucratic process.

Of the P14 billion, some P226 million was released to dialysis clinics, and P4.8 million to maternity clinics – when the IRM was supposed to prioritize hospitals and clinics handling COVID-19 cases. Dialysis and maternity clinics are no place for COVID-19 patients.

Neither Morales nor the other PhilHealth executives could explain why millions in IRM funds were released to these clinics, when many COVID-19 hospitals like the Ospital ng Maynila have been pressing PhilHealth for reimbursements for months.

“Hindi na nga whiff ito (This is no longer just a whiff),” Lacson said, in reference to an earlier statement by President Rodrigo Duterte that he would fire and prosecute any official who gives off even “a whiff of corruption.”

“It’s too obvious. Not just us, even you who’ve witnessed the hearing can immediately conclude that something is very corrupt at PhilHealth,” Lacson told reporters.

Morales still trusted by Duterte?

Senator Bong Go, Duterte’s right-hand man, on Tuesday said Morales still enjoyed the trust of the President, who sees the PhilHealth chief as a man of integrity – it was why he got the job in the first place.

Even Lacson thought as much of Morales when he was appointed in mid-2019, he told reporters.

“But the real test of a person’s character are wealth and power. Give him power and then you’ll see his true character. If you show him money, will his character change?” Lacson said.

PhilHealth, with its guaranteed income from the monthly contributions of its members – who are every employed Filipino – is a place where money and power are rife, Lacson added.

“Right now, I’d still give him the benefit of the doubt…. I am inclined to think he is trying to protect the people surrounding him [at PhilHealth],” Sotto said of Morales.

Despite their reservations and personal impressions, Lacson and Sotto said they will defer judgment until the investigation is completed. A second hearing is set for Tuesday, August 11. If necessary, the Senate will hold a third one.

Whether Morales should resign out of delicadeza or propriety as the investigation continues, Lacson said it is also “a question of character.”

During the first hearing, Morales asked the senators for an executive or closed-door session in which he hoped to air his side.

“Why does he need an executive session for that?” Sotto said, adding the Senate would only grant his request if he promises to “name names.”

If Morales does not change his tune in the next installments of the probe, the senators said they will not spare him when they come up with their recommendations.

“Magiging judgmental na kami (Then we will be judgmental),” Sotto jested.

“Let’s see on Tuesday,” he added, in a more serious tone. “Siguro naman (Surely) [our findings] will have weight on the perception of the Palace.” – Rappler.com