PhilHealth workers want ‘sweeping’ corruption allegations to stop

Workers of the state health insurer appealed Thursday for a stop to “sweeping” corruption allegations against PhilHealth.

Some senators and investigators recently appeared to accuse all employees of the state-run corporation of pocketing public funds, said PhilHealth Workers for Hope, Integrity, Transparency, and Empowerment (WHITE) president Ma. Fe Francisco.

“Demoralized ang mga empleyado ng PhilHealth… Nasasaktan kami,” she told ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo. “Nananawagan kami na sana itigil na iyong mga sweeping and general statements sa lahat ng empleyado ng PhilHealth.”

(The employees of PhilHealth are demoralized. We are hurt. We are asking for the sweeping and general statements against all PhilHealth employees to stop.)

PhilHealth officials are fighting allegations of stealing P15 billion from state coffers. Whistleblowers in a Senate inquiry also accused them of approving overpriced projects and fund releases to supposedly favored hospitals.

The Office of the Ombudsman has suspended for 6 months 13 PhilHealth officials tagged in the allegations, reports said Wednesday.

PhilHealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales was not among those who were suspended, said Francisco.

Morales is on medical leave. President Rodrigo Duterte should appoint a “caretaker” for PhilHealth, who is an “expert in healthcare financing,” she said.

TeleRadyo, Aug. 20, 2020