PhilHealth officials being probed should go on leave: Guevarra

August 10, 2020

All officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. ( PhilHealth) who are being implicated in multi-billion-peso anomalies in the state-owned firm should  go on leave, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Monday.

Guevarra, who chairs Task Force PhilHealth, was referring to the 36  officials earlier recommended by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission to be charged and be dismissed for their alleged involvement in various irregularities in the agency.

“I hope they would voluntarily take a leave while their agency is under intense investigation,” Guevarra said in a text message.

“If they are not hiding anything, they can take a leave of absence to enable the investigators/auditors to freely complete their inquiry or examination,”Guevarra added.

Philhealth president Ricardo Morales has filed a medical leave due to lymphoma as advised by his doctors.

Guevarra convened on Monday a task force that would conduct a thorough probe into anomalies and corruption in the government-run insurance provider.

The task force is composed of representatives from the Office of the Ombudsman, Commission on Audit (CoA), Civil Service Commission (CSC), Office of the Executive Secretary (OES), Office of the Special Assistant to the President and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC).

It was given 30 days to conduct an investigation, including lifestyle checks, on officials of Philhealth and to submit its recommendations to President Rodrigo Duterte. DMS