Roque can chase PhilHealth rogues
We do not have to support anything. We are always for the rule of law
Malacañang yesterday said former lawmaker and ex-presidential spokesman Harry Roque is welcome to file charges against the former officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) for alleged irregularities.
Roque, the legal counsel of the two whistleblowers behind the reported bogus kidney treatments involving the private clinic
WellMed Dialysis Center, lamented that massive corruption still persists in the agency despite efforts by President Rodrigo Duterte to cleanse government agencies of anomalies.
WellMed supposedly duped the government of billions as claimed by the whistleblowers.
“If Mr. Roque has goods on any official of the PhilHealth, then he should file the appropriate charges,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in reaction to Roque’s earlier remarks that he is willing to file cases pro bono if new PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales would be open to provide him with the needed documents.
Panelo added that there is no need for the Palace to express support to Roque as it has always believed of letting the “law take its course.”
If Mr. Roque has goods on any official of the PhilHealth, then he should file the appropriate charges.
“We do not have to support anything. We are always for the rule of law. Anybody who wants to file any case against any official, let the law take its course. That is always the stand of the Office of the President,” stated the official.
As for Roque’s suggestion to abolish the state-run health insurer and create a new agency in accordance to what was originally planned under the Universal Health Care Act, the Palace official advised that the matter be brought before Congress.
Anybody who wants to file any case against any official, let the law take its course. That is always the stand of the Office of the President.
“Let him file the appropriate charges. If he wants it abolished, then address it to Congress,” he said.
Panelo, who is also Mr. Duterte’s chief legal counsel, earlier said the President will await the results of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s investigation regarding the alleged anomalies within PhilHealth.
This pertains to the reported “mafia,” which the Palace spokesman clarified as “a closed group of influential persons,” accused of misusing PhilHealth’s funds for years.
The National Bureau of Investigation is also trying to shed light on their alleged involvement in fraudulent health insurance claims.