Task Force PhilHealth submits report to the Office of the President
MANILA – Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the Task Force PhilHealth has formally submitted to the Office of the President its report on the allegations of widespread corruption and anomalies at the government-owned and controlled Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth),
In a statement released to the media, Secretary Guevarra said the Report consists of 177 pages excluding voluminous annexes.
The Task Force was organized by the Department of Justice (DOJ) according to a Memorandum from President Rodrigo Duterte last August 7,2020 and was composed of the Department of Justice, the Office of the Special Assistant to the President (OSAP), Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). The independent constitutional bodies, the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) and the Commission on Audit (CoA) as well as the Civil Service Commission (CSC), have been invited to attend the meetings of the Task Force “in pursuit of their respective independent investigations or audits.
The Task Force received and evaluated the testimony of fourteen (14) witnesses, reports and summaries of various cases, whether under investigation or for resolution and documents submitted by resource persons and reports and recommendations by other bodies including the Senate of the Philippines.
Secretary Guevarra said their task force did seven (7) hearings for over thirty (30) hours on different dates and during these hearings, representatives from the participating agencies of the Task Force submitted questions to resource persons whose testimonies were taken under oath.
He added Task Force PhilHealth furnished its initial findings and submitted its recommendations to the President. The Task Force awaits any further directives from the President, its composite teams will pursue further targeted investigation of specific acts of fraud or corruption committed by health providers and PhilHealth personnel alike.
“Meanwhile, already pending complaints and cases shall be resolved by the agencies concerned with dispatch,” Secretary Guevarra concluded. (Melo M. Acuña)
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