Lacson looks for P9.7M erroneously credited by PhilHealth to rural bank

August 19 ------ Senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday grilled PhilHealth over the whereabouts of P9.7 million that was erroneously credited by the state health insurer to a rural bank in Bataan in May 2019. "Isinauli ba sa Land Bank o naroon pa rin sa Balanga? Where is the money now? Usapang pera ito... sabihin na nating pera ng PhilHealth pero pera nating lahat 'yan eh," Lacson asked during a Senate hearing.

PhilHealth senior vice president Renato Limsiaco Jr. from the fund management sector said he received information that the P9.7 million was already returned to the Land Bank of the Philippines but that he had no documents on hand to support such information. PhilHealth vice president Oscar Abadu Jr., meanwhile, said the amount has already been eventually credited to B. Braun Avitum Philippines, Inc. He claimed there were "actual receipts of transfer from Balanga to Landbank and then from Landbank to B. Braun."

Senate President Vicente Sotto III asked if Abadu knows the owners of B. Braun, but the latter said he has no personal knowledge of them. Lacson pointed out that nobody from PhilHealth seems to know the owners of the dialysis center which has been given over P45 million this year under the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism. Aside from that, the senator said B. Braun Avitum received over P800 million worth of payments from PhilHealth from 2015 to 2018 alone.

Lacson also asked Limsiaco why he recommended in a memorandum dated June 28, 2019 to consider the payment through check of B. Braun's claims as a remedial action on the issue of erroneous crediting to a rural bank. "May letter po sila na request po para ma-release ang kanilang pondo," the PhilHealth executive answered. "Wala man lang personal follow-up ito, puro letter? Ganito kayo kabilis mag-aksyon? 'Yung ibang ospital nagkukumahog na maningil sa inyo, 'di niyo binabayaran; itong B. Braun you never met them?" Lacson said.

"Alam niyo, malapit na kayo humarap sa DOJ [Department of Justice]. Maliligo kayo ng kaso rito. For every count of illegal disbursement, malversation and more than P8.8 million, harap niyo reclusion perpetua. That is as far as Article 217 as amended by 10951," he added. Before the hearing got suspended, Lacson said his office just received information regarding those who run B. Braun Avitum and that it will be submitted to the Committee of the Whole. The said company has already released a statement last week, invoking the regularity of its transactions with PhilHealth. It vowed to cooperate with the government for transparency.

Source: gmanetwork.com