PINALALAGYAN ni Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto ang Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) ng mas malaking detachment ng Commission on Audit (COA), resident

Ombudsman, opposition sa Board, mas malakas na internal affairs at alisin ang presidential discretion sa pagtatalaga ng opisyal.

Sa pahayag, sinabi ni Recto na nakatakda ito sa isang listahan na kanyang ilalatag upang tuluyan nang maiwasan kundi man masugpo ang korapsiyon, katiwalian at mismanagement sa (PhilHealth).

Ayon kay Recto, sinoman ang masisibak o makukuhang kapalit, dapat gawin ang mga sumusunod:

1) Mas madalas na special audit dahil kailangan ng PhilHealth ang regular na awdit.

“I doubt if COA auditors in that agency number more than 25. Too small for a P140-billion-a-year agency, which transacts 35,000 claims a day from 8,500 hospitals and 40,000 healthcare
professionals,” aniya.

Sinabi ni Recto na may 5,782 job vacancies sa COA plantilla kabilang ang 516 CPAs.

“Invite millennials from the ranks of the 7,390 CPA board passers since January last year to fill these.

This bigger COA detachment should be reinforced with other COA auditors to do fraud and performance audits from time to time,” giit ni Recto.

2) Kailangan magtalaga ng isang resident Ombudsman.

“Kung mayroon nang isa, dagdagan pa at magdagdag din ng imbestigador. Dalawang watchdog – CAO at Ombudsman –  make one strong tripwire against fraud.”

3) Mahigpit na tuparin ang qualification standard para sa Board Member, para sa walong appointees bukod sa limang ex-officios, na itinakda ng Section 13 (a) ng RA 11223, o ang UHC Law.

“For President and CEO, it should be seven years of experience in public health, management, finance and health economics or a combination of any of these expertise. This should not be
ignored or overruled by presidential discretion. (Sec. 14),” aniya.

4) Kung hindi ex-officio member ng Board at senior executive, dapat malayang suriin ng GOCC Governance Commission, kung hindi sila makikitang “akma at maayos” sa posisyon, walang
appointment.

“That is the only way to get the best and the brightest, and not the recycled and reassigned,” paliwanag ni Recto.

5) Ikonsidera ang pagtatalaga ng kinatawan ng oposisyon sa Board na makapapasa sa primary qualification.

“We need this embedded fair but firm fiscalizer. This will also benefit the appointing power, as no one will exercise greater vigilance than such an appointee,” ayon pa kay Recto.

6) Palakasin ang anti-fraud office na mas maraming tauhan at mas malawak na mandato upang makakilos ng tunay na malaya bilang internal affairs office.

“The Fact Finding Investigation and Enforcement Department (FFIED) and the Prosecution should be revamped.

A revitalized anti-fraud group should be empowered to contract the services of outside experts, like auditors, if and when needed,” giit niya.

7) Suspendihin ang kapangyarihan ng limang Gabinete sa Board (ang kalihim ng Health, Social Welfare and Development, Budget and Management, Finance, at Labor and Employment) saka
magtalaga ng alternatibong kinatawan.

“Unless lifted by the President, they should function as full-time, hands-on government and presidential representatives to the board. They can tap their squad of Asecs and Usecs to assist
them, but the latter should be empowered to act on their behalf. We need these Big Brothers, this Cabinet 5, to closely exercise oversight during PhilHealth’s reform and rehabilitation phase,”
paliwanag ni Recto.

8) Gamitin ang full power ng IT upang maitaguyod ang transparency at client satisfaction sa lahat ng transaksiyon ng PhilHealth.

“But tap outside experts to guide the design, pricing, procurement and installation of this.

Contract this out – in an open bidding – to leading companies with good track records and not fly-by-night carpetbaggers. Create an ad hoc IT advisory council with business and NGO representatives,” ayon sa mambabatas.

“Changing the system, not just the personalities, will stop the revolving door of anomalies,” giit pa ni Recto. (ESTONG REYES)