By John Clifford Lintao
SHORT of admitting the mafia operations at the state insurer, two former officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation cited delicadeza and intolerance amid massive corruption as the main reasons why they resigned.
Former PhilHealth senior vice president Augustus De Villa said delicadeza was one the reasons why he filed his irrevocable resignation last week, while former chief executive assistant Estrobal Laborte told a Senate investigating body that he resigned from the agency because he could no longer stand corruption.
“Sa kadahilanan ng delicadeza po. Ako po ay isang taong marangal, may dignidad at integridad. Malinis po ang aking konsensiya at naniniwala ako na hindi ako nababagay na magsilbi pa sa isang ahensiya ng gobyerno na punong-puno ng alegasyon ng korapsyon, ng katiwalian,” De Villa said in a Senate hearing.
“Ako po ay naniniwala na mayroon ngang katotohanan, sinadya man o hindi, at ito po ay base sa mga lumalabas na pagsusuri at lalong lalo na po noong Martes, noong unang hearing po,” he added.
A teary-eyed De Villa, who joined PhilHealth in September 2019, said he has decided to “step aside” and work from the vantage point to salvage the honor of the institution, adding that those who had their hands dirty should be held liable while those he aptly described as innocent should retained.
At the resumption of the Senate’s probe into alleged corruption in PhilHealth, Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) Commissioner Greco Belgica said the state insurer has been releasing billions of pesos in payouts every week that are “exposed to corruption.
Laborte told a Senate investigating body that he first thought of resigning from the agency in April this year due to the anomalous deals the state insurer has entered into – a proof of which he presented at the Senate probe.
He also shared screenshots of his messages to board member Alejandro Cabading, who he worked with to stop the alleged disadvantageous deals.
“Magre-resign na ako sir by July 15 ‘pag hindi maayos ito. Hindi kaya ng konsensya ko ito sir. Tapusin ko lang one year service sa PhilHealth,” Laborte told Cabading in June.
“I can no longer stand to work with this kind of people sir. I really need to go.“
“Siguro we should accept defeat. Walang tumutulong to fix PhilHealth. Sa assessment ko sir corruption will continue to go on and on at wala na tayong magagawa. Alis na lang ako sir, hanap ako iba work,” he told Cabading.
However, PhilHealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales, said Laborte cited studies as reason for his resignation.
Laborte, who did not attend the previous hearing, backing out at the last minute, cited “security reasons” behind the delay of his presence at the probe.
PhilHealth and its officials are under investigation over the agency’s alleged overpriced purchase of an IT system worth over P2 billion.