Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Resigned PhilHealth execs still face raps. Inquirer Newsletter. August 27, 2020

RUSH JOB Workers at a garment factory in Taytay, Rizal province, on Wednesday rush to finish personal protective equipment for hospital workers taking care of COVID-19 patients. The ratified version of the new coronavirus response law would give priority to local manufacturers in the government’s procurement of hazard gear for health workers. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Regions

They saw Masbate earthquake coming

Two years ago, a group of geology students from Adamson University saw the possibility of a strong earthquake hitting Masbate. Their undergraduate thesis analyzed Philippine Fault earthquakes generated from Luzon to Mindanao, and noted that a 6.3-magnitude quake that shook Masbate in 2003 could trigger another one in Cataingan Bay. On Aug. 18, a 6.6-magnitude quake jolted Cataingan. —STORY BY MARIO A. AURELIO, CONTRIBUTOR

World

Melania offers virus victims sympathy

WASHINGTON—US first lady Melania Trump changed the hostile atmosphere of the Republican convention by offering sympathy to victims of the coronavirus pandemic, a global concern her husband Donald Trump has been accused of playing down. In her speech, she also highlighted the need for racial understanding, directing her plea to women voters who have already withdrawn support for her husband. —STORY BY AP AND REUTERS

Sports

Controversy stalks UST after CJ transfer

CJ Cansino’s transfer to the University of the Philippines continues to leak controversy after exposed chat messages revealed that several players also wanted to bolt the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers’ training bubble in Sorsogon. The Inquirer also obtained a copy of a text message from a team official threatening players with an “allowance cut.” —STORY BY MUSONG R. CASTILLO AND DENISON REY A. DALUPANG

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Resigned PhilHealth execs still face raps

By Marlon Ramos, Jovic Yee and DJ Yap

The resignation of the two top officials of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) will not shield them from criminal charges for their alleged complicity in the multibillion-peso corruption scandal that had put the state insurer’s financial viability in jeopardy, lawmakers said on Wednesday.

PhilHealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales submitted his resignation letter to President Duterte on Wednesday, Malacañang said.

Noting Morales’ failing health, the President had earlier asked Morales to resign, according to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra. Morales had informed the Senate that he was undergoing treatment for cancer.

“We are still awaiting President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s further action/instruction on the matter,” said presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.

Besides Morales, lawyer Rodolfo del Rosario Jr. had also tendered his irrevocable resignation as PhilHealth senior vice president for legal sector.

Both officials had made no admission of wrongdoing in connection with the alleged irregularities in the P2-billion PhilHealth information technology project and the use of the P30-billion interim reimbursement mechanism (IRM) for COVID-19 patients.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he felt bad for Morales, a fellow graduate of the Philippine Military Academy, after Mr. Duterte told him to step down due to his medical condition.

But Lacson told reporters in an online interview the resignation of Morales and Del Rosario “won’t change anything since we have already concluded our investigation.”

Criminal acts
Both former PhilHealth officials may avoid administrative liabilities after leaving the government, Lacson said. “But criminally, they will still be charged … because criminal acts will only be extinguished when these have already been proscribed,” he said.

Lacson said Del Rosario’s decision to quit his post was “one of many reasons to hope for some good things to come” in the multiagency investigation of the Department of Justice.

“The paying members and all taxpayers who contribute to the state health insurance fund surely deserve a break from the cyclical corruption involving its top executives,” he said.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, the PhilHealth chair, had accepted Morales’ resignation.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Duque “truly appreciates” what Morales did during his 14 months at the state insurance company, especially given his medical condition.

In a radio interview on Wednesday, Morales assured the public that he would continue to cooperate with the various investigations of the alleged irregularities at PhilHealth.

Lifestyle check
He said he had signed a bank secrecy waiver, gave his statement of assets and liabilities and that he and other PhilHealth officials had submitted themselves to a lifestyle check.

“I’m confident that I would be given fair treatment,” said Morales, Mr. Duterte’s fifth PhilHealth chief.

Morales’ immediate predecessor, Roy Ferrer, was forced to resign last year amid the ghost dialysis scandal and other fraud that resulted in up to P154 billion in losses to the state corporation since 2013.

Del Rosario was among more than a dozen former and current PhilHealth officials suspended by the Ombudsman for six months without pay.

“As I cannot afford to be unemployed for the next six months, and understanding that the corporation would need an SVP legal in these trying times, I have tendered my irrevocable resignation. This was a painful decision,” he said in a Facebook post.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan said resignation was not an escape from prosecution.

“Otherwise, all one has to do is steal billions (of pesos) and then resign,” Pangilinan said in a Viber message to the Inquirer.

Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, Senate health committee chair and Mr. Duterte’s most trusted aide, said the public deserved to know what really happened to the funds of the state insurance corporation.

Bottom line
“The bottom line of the whole investigation is to establish the truth, make accountable the culprits and eradicate the deep-rooted, systemic and systematic corruption in the government,” Go said.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said asking Morales to resign was “a humanitarian way of saying ‘you’re fired!’”

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said a law should be passed to give the President the authority to reorganize the entire leadership and management of the state insurer based on a “well-studied reorganization plan,” he said.

“What PhilHealth needs now is a top-to-bottom cleansing in order to get rid of individuals who used PhilHealth as their personal ATM,” Drilon said.

He said the government must ensure that those who would be replacing the PhilHealth officials were the “most competent and honest people.”

Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas said that instead of asking Morales to step down, the President should have fired and prosecuted him.

Mr. Duterte made a “lame call” to resign, she said, adding that it “doesn’t do justice” to Morales’ and may have been intended to douse cold water on public outrage over allegations of massive fraud in the state insurer.

She said the President could not just wash his hands clean of the PhilHealth mess, since he signed the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act, which entitled PhilHealth to more funds through higher premium contributions from workers’ incomes.

COVID funds
Brosas said it was also Mr. Duterte who “blessed” the rollout of the IRM, an emergency program that allowed PhilHealth to release cash advances to hospitals during natural disasters and other unexpected events, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

But lawmakers discovered last week that hospitals could use the cash advances like a “blank check” or for other uses, including for supplies and salaries, instead of treatment for COVID-19 patients, she said.

“The IRM, as what was revealed, was used to bankroll even non-COVID-19 health services mostly by private healthcare institutions,” the Gabriela lawmaker said. —WITH A REPORT FROM LEILA B. SALAVERRIA

Editorial

Resist the lies

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana blasted China this week for its outrageous claim that the Philippines had been conducting "illegal provocative activities" in the West Philippine Sea. In a statement on Sunday, Lorenzana hit the contention of Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian that the Philippines had infringed on China’s sovereignty and security when it sent military aircraft to Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, and that the Philippines should "immediately stop illegal provocations." "Illegal provocations? That area is within our EEZ (exclusive economic zone). Their (China’s) so-called historical rights over an area enclosed by their nine-dash line doesn’t exist except in their imaginations," said Lorenzana. "They (China) are the ones who have been doing provocations by illegally occupying some features within our EEZ. Hence they have no right to claim they are enforcing their laws," he added.

There, that’s how to do it: Push back every time at China’s lies. Fight its falsehoods with the truth. Failing to debunk such untruths only encourages China to spout more of the same, hence it is imperative for the Philippines and other claimant countries to assert their rights vigorously and resist China’s spurious rhetoric every time.

Read full story: opinion.inquirer.net