President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday sought the courtesy resignations of the board members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), following the so-called “ghost dialysis” scam that cost the state-run firm millions.
In a statement, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said the President had met with the PhilHealth board and “expressed his sadness about the state of affairs of the aforesaid government corporation.”
“While the Chief Executive reiterated his trust [in] — and has no doubt about — the integrity of PhilHealth Acting President and CEO Dr. Roy Ferrer, as well as the members of the board, he however demanded [their] courtesy resignation in order for the corporation to have a clean slate … in rendering services as well as implementing pertinent policies on health, including the Universal Health Care Act,” Panelo said.
Panelo said Duterte also ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a “full-scale investigation” into allegations of fake billings charged to PhilHealth by a Quezon City-based dialysis center.
The Palace spokesman said PhilHealth services would be carried out by second-level officials amid the NBI probe.
“There is zero tolerance on corruption under this Administration. There will be an in-depth study on how the frauds are systematically committed by unscrupulous persons in and out of PhilHealth. There will be criminal prosecutions of all those involved. No one will be spared,” Panelo said. (Felipe F. Salvosa II)