DAVAO CITY —In the middle of the investigation involving multi-billion fund in his agency, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) President and CEO Ricardo Morales has tendered his resignation on Wednesday.
Morales resigned hours after Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra in a statement said “The President took note last night of Morales’ on-and-off health situation, and stated that it would be best for the latter and for PhilHealth to give up his post during these critical times for the agency”.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque in a statement confirmed that the Office of the President has received today, August 26.
“We are still awaiting President Rodrigo Duterte’s further action/instruction on the matter,” Roque added.
During the Tuesday televised address, Duterte emphasized “Itong eskandalo lalo na itong mga pera para sa kabutihan ng katawan ng tao, dalawa ang lumalabas sa limelight ngayon. Iyong PhilHealth ang dapat imbestigahan at dapat i-prosecute lahat at dapat ikulong. Kung iyan na lang ang trabaho ko sa maiwan ko sa dalawang taon, iyan na rin ang gagawain ko”.
Duterte even vowed, “I can do in the remaining two years of my term, uubusin ko ito ‘yung panahon ko to work on the cases for people who are involved in the PhilHealth”.
Earlier today, DZBB reported that Philhealth senior vice president for the legal sector Rodolfo del Rosario Jr. has also tendered his resignation.
“I tendered my irrevocable resignation effective August 24, 2020,” he said in a mobile message.
The DZBB report cited Del Rosario’s Facebook post which stated “The past days have been so grueling and stressful. The character assassination, trial by publicity, and relentless persecution have left me in so much agony. My six-month suspension was too much to bear,” Del Rosario said in his Facebook post.
On August 10, Morales filed for medical leave as he had been undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma. Two days later, he suddenly left a House probe on PhilHealth issues, citing his medical condition.
Duterte has ordered a multi-agency task force to investigate the alleged irregularities within PhilHealth.
Earlier on, Guevarra said they plan to recommend structural reforms and the possibility of a partial or even total reorganization of the state health insurer.
The probe team according to Guevarra is focusing on the four specific areas which may have had links to the alleged fraud and irregularities within the agency namely PhilHealth’s information technology (IT) system, legal sector, Interim Reimbursement Mechanism or IRM, and its financial management.-Newsline.ph
