MANILA – The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the suspension of 13 officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) amid an ongoing probe into alleged corruption in the agency.
Iloilo 1st District Representative Janette Garin yesterday shared images of the order signed by Ombudsman Samuel Martires which slapped six-month preventive suspension on the following PhilHealth officials:
● Dennis Mas, Senior Vice President (SVP) for Management Services Sector
● Israel Pargas, SVP for health finance and policy sector
● Shirley Domingo, Vice President for Corporate Affairs Group
● Rodolfo Del Rosario, legal sector chief
● Roy B. Ferrer
● Celestina Ma. Jude dela Serna
● Ruben John A. Basa
● Raul Dominic Badilla
● Angelito Grande
● Lawrence Mijares
● Leila Tuazon
● Clementine A. Bautista
● Eugenio G. Donatos II
The Ombudsman’s suspension order, which was set to be served yesterday, stemmed from an old complaint and is not COVID-19-related.
PhilHealth is under intense scrutiny from lawmakers after key whistleblower Thorrsson Montes Keith, former PhilHealth anti-fraud legal officer, accused key officials of stealing P15 billion from the agency using different fraudulent schemes.
The amount covers alleged unauthorized release of interim reimbursement mechanisms, funds allocated for “fortuitous events” such as the pandemic, to hospitals that have not yet recorded COVID-19 cases./PN
