Presidential spokesman Harry Roque is still in favor of the proposed abolition of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) in the wake of allegations of corruption hounding the state firm.
Roque, author of the Universal Health Care Act when he was a lawmaker, has suggested the creation of another agency to replace the corruption-tainted state health corporation.
"As author in the HOR (House of Representatives) of UHC (Universal Health Care Act), I proposed to abolish PhilHealth and replace it with another agency to rid it of corrupt people who unfortunately are protected by civil service laws," he said.
PhilHealth was established in 1995 with the approval of the National Health Insurance Act signed by then President Fidel V. Ramos. It is mandated to provide social health insurance coverage to all Filipinos.
The state corporation is under intense scrutiny anew after a former PhilHealth official alleged that around P15 billion of corporate funds had been lost to corruption last year. Lawyer Thorrsson Montes Keith, former antifraud officer of PhilHealth, claimed that the funds were supposedly stolen by the alleged mafia consisting of company's executive committee.
PhilHealth however has denied the allegations, saying Keith's claims were malicious and not substantiated by evidence.
Roque, who has long battled the corrupt practices at PhilHealth, admitted that Keith's testimony seemed convincing and accurate.
The Palace official, on the other hand, is worried by PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales' admission that corruption is still rampant at the state corporation without present measures to eliminate anomalies. "I did not hear steps that he has taken to remove corruption in the agency – that to me, is the most worrisome," he said.
Roque maintained that the universal health care law could not succeed "unless we rid PhilHealth of corruption."
"We should never accept that even a single peso is lost through corruption," he said, adding the funds must be used to provide free healthcare and medicines to those in need. "Every centavo counts, we cannot afford to lose 10 billion, not even 1 peso for that matter," he said.
Before he returned as the President’s spokesman, Roque called for the abolition of PhilHealth at the height of the ghost dialysis treatment scheme last year. He was then lawyer of the two whistleblowers of the alleged scam.
At the time, then Presidential spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said Roque's proposal to abolish PhilHealth should be addressed to Congress.
Roque also previously filed a complaint against some PhilHealth officials over their alleged inaction in the issuance of fake receipts to overseas Filipino workers.