MANILA, Philippines — Two senators on Saturday said officials in Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) must face sanctions amid fresh corruption allegations within the agency.
Senator Imee Marcos said officials in PhilHealth should get suspended to give way for the investigation into the supposed irregularities in the agency.
“Sa Martes mayroon na naman kaming hearing. Ano pa bang inaantay? Obvious na obvious na maraming lokohan nangyari diyan, whether sa House or sa Senate. Para sa akin tigilan na yung mga hearing talaga naman. I-preventive suspension na yung mga yan. Walang ka-deli-delicadeza… mag-resign muna sila.. para ma-imbestigahan na ng COA (Commission on Audit)… ang pinaggagawa nila,” Marcos said over DWIZ when sought for her comment on updates about the PhilHealth controversy.
(We have a hearing again on Tuesday. What else are we waiting for? It is obvious that there are anomalies here whether in the House or Senate. For me, maybe we should stop the hearing. Let’s just have these officials be under preventive suspension. They show no delicadeza… They should just resign… so that they could be investigated by the COA.)
Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said aside that from PhilHealth chairman Ricardo Morales, PhilHealth’s board members should also be liable in the supposed corruption in the agency.
“Ang importante hindi lang chairman, of course yung chairman malaki po ang impluwensya, pero yung board yung dapat nagbabantay sa PhilHealth, dapat managot,” he said in a separate interview with DWIZ.
(The important thing is, not only the chairman. Of course, the chairman has a big influence but the board who guards the agency must also be liable.)
The senator also called to continue the PhilHealth investigation to stop abuses in the agency.