A workers union of the state insurance corporation on Tuesday sought Health Secretary Francisco Duque III’s comment on the allegations of corruption against the leaders of PhilHealth.

Duque, chairman of the PhilHealth board, has been mum on a Senate inquiry where whistleblowers accused officials of pocketing P15 billion in public funds, said PhilHealth Workers for Hope, Integrity, Transparency, and Empowerment (PhilHealth-WHITE) president Ma. Fe Francisco.

“Gusto namin siyang mapakinggan (we want to hear him), what he has to say about what is going on,” she told ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo.

PhilHealth WHITE earlier urged President Rodrigo Duterte to appoint a caretaker for the state insurer after PhilHealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales and Executive Vice President Arnel De Jesus filed medical leaves and sought to skip the Senate hearing.

Duque should not be PhilHealth’s caretaker because he is facing a separate investigation for alleged lapses in the country’s pandemic response, Francisco said.

She urged fellow employees to “clean up and disinfect PhilHealth.”

TeleRadyo, Aug. 11, 2020