Duterte wants PhilHealth’s abolition

September 29, 2020

President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday night that he would be "shaking" the corrupt-laden Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

In a taped televised message, Duterte said he would propose to Congress to abolish the state health insurer.

"Create a new agency out of the ruins of that old one...the people here are no longer qualified (because) they are already entrenched," he said.

"Nothing will happen anymore. It's either I'm going to revamp, consider everybody resigned there," Duterte stressed.

Former PhilHealth executives said that it might run out of funds by 2022 as multi-billion funds of the agency were allegedly lost due to fraudulent schemes.

Duterte said the government will sell its properties in Japan to subsidize PhilHealth.

The President has earlier given new PhilHealth president and CEO Dante Gierran until end of the year to clean PhilHealth of corrupt officials and employees.

He had ordered a task force led by the Department of Justice to investigate PhilHealth and conduct a lifestyle check of its officials amid alleged massive corruption.

The DOJ-led task force has recommended the filing of criminal and administrative charges against several PhilHealth executives, including its resigned president and CEO Ricardo Morales.

In a press briefing on Monday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque assured that the PhilHealth employees who are not involved in any irregularity would remain even if PhilHealth is abolished or reorganized.

In case PhilHealth is abolished, he said another agency will be created to act as a state health insurer.

"So, nothing will change, only the faces, corruption will be eliminated once it (PhilHealth) is abolished and new organization will be created to perform what PhilHealth has been doing," Roque said.

He also said that the public could expect many PhilHealth officials and staff to be fired, noting the cases to be filed by the task force as well as that of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission. Celerina Monte/DMS