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Release - May 11, 2005
References: Connie Bragas-Regalado, Chairperson
Contact Numbers: Telefax - 926-2838 and 0927-2157392
Vince Borneo, Information Officer, 0927-7968198
Duque
should not become health secretary
The MIGRANTE
Sectoral Party today voiced its opposition to Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's
reported choice of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation chief
Francisco Duque III as Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit's replacement
due to his "profit-oriented mindset and bias against distressed
overseas Filipino workers."
"This
is another bare-faced example of Gloria's political payback. Pres.
Macapagal-Arroyo has wanted to replace Health Secretary Dayrit with
Philhealth chief Duque who played an important role in her campaign
juggernaut in the last elections. Duque is primarily responsible
for the distribution of PhilHealth cards with Gloria's photo distributed
during the campaign period in the last elections. Credit should
also be given to Duque for raiding the OFW trust funds at the Overseas
Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) for the beleaguered PhilHealth
coffers. He should not become health secretary," MIGRANTE Sectoral
Party Chairperson Connie Bragas-Regalado said.
Secretary
Dayrit announced yesterday that he was resigning from the Cabinet
effective May 31.
"While
Dayrit has firmly denied that he was not pressured into leaving
his post, Duque himself has coldly said that Dayrit was on the way
out and that he (Duque) would not decline the offer of Pres. Arroyo.
This actually confirms that Duque was not only waiting in the wings.
He was actually pushing his way into the socially-sensitive Department
of Health to bring in his brand of profit-oriented management and
obvious bias against poor people," Bragas-Regalado said.
MIGRANTE
has been at odds with Duque since controversies have hounded the
OFW health care program at the OWWA.
"Duque,
with the blessings of Pres. Arroyo, was able to transfer P530,382,446
of the OFW Medicare Trust Fund from the OWWA to PhilHealth last
March 1. This transfer was made possible by Executive Order 392
issued by the President on December 28, 2004. This order merely
amended the controversial E.O. 182 and fast-tracked the anomalous
transfer of OFW funds," Bragas-Regalado said.
MIGRANTE
has said that "these executive orders were prompted by Duque
himself in a memo to Pres. Arroyo in 2003 that said in part "the
proposed transfer will have a significant bearing on 2004 elections
and on the President's desire to provide health insurance to 8M
indigents by end of 2003."
"Now
with the likely appointment of Duque to the health porfolio what
will happen to his revelations of at least P520 million in losses
due to padded or fake insurance claims at the PhilHealth? Something
is definitely wrong with Duque if P520 million gets lost to fraudulent
claims. Claims can be accessed with top-level approval. Most likely,
there is a syndicate lurking within Philhealth," Bragas-Regalado
said.
Duque has
also boasted that the P520 million losses constitute only about
four percent of PhilHealth's P52 billion earnings, adding that "this
is significantly lower than the 33 percent in fraudulent claims
under the defunct Medicare, PhilHealth's forerunner. It shows that
we can be better at managing funds compared to Medicare and OWWA."
"Add
to the fact that Duque got more than P530 million from OWWA and
is bound to get the Department of Health portfolio. PhilHealth and
the current administration continue to profit, this time from overseas
Filipino workers by rewarding those responsible for an irregularity
with more chances at committing bigger anomalies, thanks to the
help of Malacanang," Bragas-Regalado concluded. #
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