(Eagle News)–Senator Franklin Drilon has hit the designation of Arnel de Jesus as PhilHealth officer-in-charge following the resignation of Ricardo Morales.
In criticizing the move by the PhilHealth board, Drilon noted De Jesus, as PhilHealth’s chief operations officer, implemented the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism that is now the subject of inquiries by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
“It must be remembered that he was the one who kept justifying the download of IRM funds to non-Covid-19 hospitals such as dialysis and maternity clinics,” Drilon said, adding that De Jesus’ “actions and poor professional judgment were so evident during the hearings of the Committee of the Whole on PhilHealth.”
Drilon said De Jesus also said that liquidation was “optional,” when PhilHealth should have required hospitals to liquidate the funds immediately as required by Commission on Audit rules.
He added De Jesus also signed the “illegal liquidation memorandum circular which gave too much discretion to regional directors, which resulted in this financial mess and corruption.”
“There is nothing from his past actions that could justify the decision of the PhilHealth Board to name de Jesus as OIC. I am extremely concerned about how the board picked de Jesus,” he added.
PhilHealth announced the board’s decision to designate De Jesus, then-PhilHealth’s executive vice president and chief operations officer, on Thursday, Aug. 27, a day after Morales filed for resignation.
This was after President Rodrigo Duterte said it was better for Morales, who has been diagnosed with cancer, to quit amid the “crucial times” PhilHealth is facing.
Apart from the Senate and House probes in aid of legislation, the Department of Justice and the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission are probing the allegations of corruption in the state insurer made by Thorrsson Montes Keith, PhilHealth’s former antifraud officer.
Based on a medical certificate sent early August to the Senate, De Jesus was also admitted to a hospital, and was scheduled for an angioplasty, among others.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has said President Rodrigo Duterte would appoint a PhilHealth chief soon.
