IBINUNYAG ng dating anti-fraud legal officer ng Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) ang paglipad ng P9.705 milyong pondo ng Regional Office 2 ng ahensya patungo sa isang bangko sa Region 3.

Sa pagdinig ng Senate Committee of the Whole, sinabi ni Atty. Thorrson Montes Keith na iniulat ng PhilHealth Regional Office II na nailipat sa Balanga Rural Bank sa Bataan ang naturang pondo.

“Region 2 personnel credited P9.705 million to Balanga Rural Bank located in Bataan, Region III without any valid reason,” saad ni Keith.

“The big question is how did this happen. There is no way PRO2 can pay banks situated in Region 3,” tanong ng abogado.

“I discovered that there were multiple transactions of payments of reimbursements of PhilHealth benefit claims for 12 consecutive periods for the month of May 2019 between May 2 to 22. This is not merely inadvertent as the multiple transactions connotes deliberate intent to defraud the government by embezzling P9,705,332,” paliwanag pa nito.

Ilang beses anyang tumanggi ang Balanga Rural Bank na ibalik ang pera subalit napilitan ding isoli makaraang makatanggap ng demand letter mula sa PhilHealth.

Sinabi pa ni Keith na may mga impormasyon na isang opisyal ng ahensya ang may ‘mistress’ sa Balanga, Bataan, bagama’t hindi niya ito nakumpirma dahil sa kakapusan ng panahon.

Isang opisyal din anya ng Philhealth ang madalas bumibiyahe patungong Balanga.

“The question that should be answered to shed light to this investigation is: who owns the account in Balanga Rural Bank and what is the account number?” diin ni Keith.

“The only thing to do is to determine the real owner of the bank account in Balanga, Bataan and it will open a Pandora’s box,” dagdag nito.(DANG SAMSON-GARCIA)