(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte still trusts PhilHealth chief and COO Ricardo Morales despite the corruption allegations in the agency, Senator Bong Go said.
According to the senator, though, “‘yung mga tauhan sa baba, dapat niyang tingnan mabuti at dapat nga po ay imbestigahan.”
Nevertheless, he said the President would await the results of the probe by the Office of the Special Assistant to the President Undersecretary Jesus Melchor Quitain.
The President ordered the probe after Thorrsson Montes Keith claimed there was “widespread corruption” in PhilHealth.
Keith said he was the agency’s anti-fraud officer until he resigned shortly before making the allegations in public, but Morales said Keith’s position did not actually exist.
Morales also dismissed Keith’s allegations, saying he was merely hurt because he was not promoted.
In his letter to Morales, Keith cited the “rampant and patent unfairness in the promotion process” for his resignation, noting there should be a “thorough investigation by an independent agency.”
He added he was opposed to the mandatory payment of PhilHealth contributions by Overseas Filipino Workers which he said was unconstitutional and not part of the Universal Health Care Law.
He said his salary and hazard pay have also not been on time since he probed PhilHealth officers.
“Now I think it is better for me to resign and let the course of things go its way,” he had said.