PhilHealth cards were used for Gloria's election run

The MIGRANTE Sectoral Party today denounced Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation chief Francisco Duque III for the recent exposure of the short-term expiration of the Gloria Philhealth cards.

"We have every reason to criticize Pres. Macapagal-Arroyo and her favorite appointee Duque for trying to justify the expiration of the PhilHealth cards with Gloria's photo distributed during the campaign period in the last elections. With the loss of hundreds of millions and the raiding of OFW funds for the PhilHealth we cannot but say that this regime is not really out to give health care for the people," MIGRANTE Sectoral Party Chairperson Connie Bragas-Regalado said.

MIGRANTE had earlier said that the PhilHealth "may be afflicted with corruption" in light of revelations of at least P520 million in losses due to padded or fake insurance claims.

"This is quite strange since PhilHealth, with the blessings of Pres. Arroyo, was able to transfer P530,382,446 of the OFW Medicare Trust Fund from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to PhilHealth last March 1. We wonder if this transfer was aimed at keeping up the glowing figures that Duque always proclaims in media interviews and Congressional inquiries regarding PhilHealth's efficiency," Bragas-Regalado said.

This transfer was made possible by Executive Order 392 issued by the President on March 1, 2005. This order merely amended the controversial E.O. 182 and fast-tracked the anomalous transfer of OFW funds.

"This happened despite firm opposition of OFWs and their families and the Resolutions filed by the House of Representatives to recall Executive Order 182. President Macapagal-Arroyo defied the legislature's efforts to protect the OFW Medicare fund and went ahead to issue Executive Order 392 dated December 28, 2004," Bragas-Regalado said.

MIGRANTE averred 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."

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."

"But there is definitely something wrong with PhilHealth if P520 million gets lost to fraudulent claims. How can claims be accessed without top-level approval? Most likely, there is a syndicate lurking within Philhealth," Bragas-Regalado said.

"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 - has profited yet again, this time from overseas Filipino workers by blanketing an irregularity with a bigger anomaly with the help of Malacanang," Bragas-Regalado concluded. #