MANILA - Some officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) agreed Wednesday to sign waivers allowing the Anti-Money Laundering Council to look into their bank accounts amid allegations of corruption in the state insurance firm.
PhilHealth officials who attended, physically and on video conferencing, a joint committee probe at the House of Representatives answered in the affirmative when asked about their willingness to sign a waiver.
PhilHealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales, Executive Vice President Arnel de Jesus, and Senior Vice President Rodolfo Del Rosario were not present in the hearing called by the House Committees on Good Government and Public Accountability, and Public Accounts.
"Yung Board Members and Regional Officers, susulatan po ng ating komite kung willing din sila pumirma ng waiver for AMLC," said party list Cong. Mike Defensor.
The proposal to issue a waiver, authorizing the AMLC to check the PhilHealth executives' bank records, as well as of their immediate families', was made by Cong. Luis Raymund Villafuerte.
The state insurance firm is under fire for its allegedly questionable release of COVID-19 funds to medical facilities, such as dialysis and maternity care centers, and its bloated information systems budget proposal.
Citing Commission on Audit (COA) records, Defensor said PhilHealth may have spent as much as P153 billion in overpayments since 2013.
House of Representatives, PhilHealth, PhilHealth House probe, AMLC, bank waiver, Lray Villafuerte, Mike Defensor