The Duterte administration will study a proposal to give the president additional powers to fix anomalies within the Phillipine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), the Palace said on Thursday.

“Nagpapasalamat po kami sa Kongreso. Pero pag-aralan po natin kung kinakailangan talaga iyang emergency powers na iyan,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in an interview over Radio Mindanao Network.

“Sa ngayon po, tayo naman po ay may sapat na kapangyarihan bilang isang commander-in-chief ang ating presidente. Pero pag-aralan po natin dahil ito naman po ay isang polisiya na nagmumula po sa ating Kongreso,” he added.

Lawmakers investigating PhilHealth on Wednesday proposed to grant President Rodrigo Duterte additional powers to reform Philhealth. According to House committee on public accounts chairman Mike Defensor, these include powers to reorganize and hire personnel and/or third-party providers for audit, legal, public health and finance, among others.

Duterte on Monday appointed accountant-lawyer and former National Bureau of Investigation director Dante Gierran to head PhilHealth.

PhilHealth’s former chief, Ricardo Morales, resigned amid ongoing investigations on alleged corruption within the state insurer.

Gierran vowed to help President Duterte clean up PhilHealth in the president’s remaining two years in office. John Ezekiel J. Hirro