Philhealth personnel quits due to alleged corruption, Philhealth head denies it

July 24, 2020

A personnel of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) resigned due to alleged corruption  but the head of the state agency said there were no such issues.

In a radio interview, PhilHealth President and Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Morales said there is no truth to the claims of Thorrsson Keith, a contractual employee, of widespread corruption.

"In my opinion, it is not corruption, but rather inefficiencies, wrong entries, lacking entries," said Morales.

"But as to corruption by a syndicate, that there is a mafia. There is no evidence to having such," he added.

As to the two other PhilHealth officials who supposedly quit,  it said head executive assistant Etrobal Laborte resigned, while corporate legal counsel Roberto Labe Jr. denied leaving the agency.

"Head Executive Assistant Etrobal Laborte has tendered his resignation in the middle of July and will take effect at the end of August 2020 to go back to taking his PhD; while Corporate Legal Counsel Roberto Labe Jr. vehemently denied any news of his resignation," said PhilHealth.

Morales said there is no "anti-fraud legal officer"position  as claimed by Keith in his resignation letter that circulated on social media.

"Keith is a contractual employee, who came to me applying for the position if executive assistant. To me, he is not qualified because that is a position of confidence. But I barely know him," said Morales.

In his letter, Keith informed Morales that he is tendering his resignation effective August 31, 2020. He said the reasons were "rampant and patent unfairness in the promotion process", delayed salary and hazard pay, and "widespread corruption".

Morales suggested that Keith  make his resignation effective immediately.

"His continued stay would be detrimental to the organization. I think it would compromise the Corporation for him to stay, to have access to the resources of the Corporation," he said.

PhilHealth said it would have been better if Keith opted to bring his claims through proper channels.

"We ask Atty. Keith to substantiate his accusations (of corruption) so proper procedures can be initiated," PhilHealth said. DMS