Press Release
August 18, 2020

Opening Statement at the Senate Committee of the Whole Hearing on PhilHealth
Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson

More at: https://pinglacson.net/2020/08/18/may-maliligo-sa-kaso-senate-hearing-on-corruption-at-philhealth/

 One of the contentions of the policy is that the determination of IRM funds for HCIs, its consequent approval, and fund releases, are very centralized. It follows that the preference and prioritization of which hospitals to receive the IRM funds remain as the discretion of the Central Office.

Not surprisingly, we have observed the same pattern of preferential treatment or favoritism to certain HCIs in some regions. Of particular concerns are the implementation of IRMs in Regions 6 and 8, probably another smoking gun that will be revealed later in today's hearing.

Ang isa pang harap-harapang pagsisinungaling at panloloko during the Senate hearing last week, IT chief Jovita Aragona and Mr. Calixto Gabuya kept insisting that the grossly overpriced network switch that they purchased amounting to P348,000 each was the Cisco 2960XR 24 Port. Enough with the smoke and mirrors, Chief Aragona and Mr. Gabuya! No amount of technicalities will conceal the fact that you repeatedly lied to mislead not just this Committee, but the Filipino public. Malinaw pa sa sikat ng araw - it was Cisco 9200 24 Port and not the Cisco 2960XR 24 Port. Even Micro Genesis Software Inc., the winning bidder, virtually admitted in their press release that Ms. Aragona and Mr. Gabuya, even corporate legal counsel Atty. Labe, lied and tried to fool us, Mr. President.

Marami pang mga palusot ang narinig ng committee na ito at ng sambayanan sa mala-gintong presyo ng mga IT equipment na nabili na at plano pang bilihin ng PhilHealth. In the course of this inquiry, it seems that we had opened a can of worms when we stumbled upon the case of B. Braun Avitum Dialysis Center, Inc.

It started with the release of IRM funds amounting to P45.17M to the firm's five branches in record speed. Nguni't hindi diyan natatapos ang alamat ng B Braun Avitum. Narinig natin noong nakaraang linggo ang misteryosong kaso ng P9.7 million na pambayad sa claims ng B. Braun branch sa Region II na sa hindi maipaliwanag na kadahilanan ay naideposito sa Balanga Rural Bank sa Bataan na nasa Region III.

And just last weekend, we got hold of a document showing the inconsistencies in the claims of six branches of - guess what, Mr. President - B. Braun Avitum again. The data set was culled from PhilHealth's own tracking system called MIDAS, or Machine Learning Identification, Detection and Analysis System, which suggested that the deviation in their regression models tells us the possible presence of ghost dialysis patients, if not ghost dialysis machines.

For the period 2015 to 2018 alone, Mr. President, umabot na sa P811M ang nasingil ng B. Braun Avitum mula sa PhilHealth. But that is just half of the story. In 2018 ang isang QC branch ng B Braun Avitum ay umabot hanggang 133.78% ang sessions to capacity ratio ng kanilang 15 dialysis machines, samantalang 90% lang dapat ang threshold capacity or 72 sessions per month ayon sa PhilHealth. Ang ibig sabihin nito, may imposibleng dialysis sessions na umaabot sa 4,378.

Now I dare ask - is this another case of 'WellMed dialysis scam' in the making?

Balik po tayo sa usaping IRM Mr. President. Kasalukuyang binibilang namin kung ilan lahat ang pribadong HCIs tulad ng B Braun Avitum na walang kinalaman sa fortuitous event na siya lamang awtorisadong gastusan under the PhilHealth law as amended sa ilalim ng IRM mechanism. Uulitin ko lang po. Mula't sapul na pinairal ang IRM noon pang taong 2013, para lamang sa "displaced communities and communities in environmentally endangerd areas" ang saklaw nito sa ilalim ng umiiral na batas.

You may ask, Mr. President, why are we accounting for the number of these cases? Ang sagot, para malaman natin kung ano ang bilang ng mga kasong mairerekomendang maisampa laban sa mga kinauukulan.

Mr. Chairman and President of the Senate, I thought I should read a provision and its subsequent amendment under RA 10951. Article 217, Chapter 4, Book 2 of Act 3815 or the RPC provides:

"MALVERSATION OF PUBLIC FUNDS OR PROPERTY. Art. 217. Malversation of public funds or property; Presumption of malversation - Any public officer who, by reason of the duties of his office, is accountable for public funds or property, shall appropriate the same or shall take or misappropriate or shall consent, through abandonment or negligence, shall permit any other person to take such public funds, or property, wholly or partially, or shall otherwise be guilty of the misappropriation or malversation of such funds or property, shall suffer" - I will now quote from the latest amendment of Art 217 of the Penal Code, which is Sec 40, RA 10951 - It says, "If the amount exceeds P8.8 million, the penalty shall be reclusion perpetua."

In all cases, persons guilty of malversation shall also suffer the penalty of perpetual special disqualification and a fine equal to the amount of the funds malversed or equal to the total value of the property embezzled."

Mr. Limsiaco, and probably PCEO Morales, I am sorry to say, being accountable officers of PhilHealth - bukod pa sa usapin ng pag-misappropriate ng kaban ng PhilHealth para bayaran ang withholding tax na maliwanag pa sa sikat ng araw ay kasong Malversation of Public Funds or Property under Article 217, Chapter 4, Book II of Act 3815, at iba pang kaso ng violations of the National Internal Revenue Code and Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act or RA 3019; kapag isinama pati ang mga binayaran ninyo na private dialysis centers, maternity care providers at infirmaries na walang kinalaman sa COVID-19 na siyang sakop ng IRM, malamang maliligo kayo ng kaso kapag ibinahagi na ni SP Tito Sotto Kay DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra ang lahat na records ng proceedings ng pagdinig na sinasagawa namin ngayon. Batid na po natin na ang Task Force na pinangungunahan ni Sec. Guevarra ay inatasan ng Pangulo na mag-imbestiga ng mga katiwalian sa PhilHealth upang sampahan ng kaukulang kaso ang mga sangkot sa karumal-dumal na gawaing pinaguusapan natin ngayon at sampu ng ating mga kababayan ngayong panahon pa man din ng pandemya na hindi man lang ninyo pinatawad.

Kaya huwag ninyo asahan na papatawarin kayo ng sambayanang Pilipino. Thank you Mr. President.

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