{"id":267220,"date":"2020-09-01T03:33:08","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T07:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=267220"},"modified":"2020-09-01T03:33:08","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T07:33:08","slug":"duterte-orders-reshuffle-within-philhealth-boc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/09\/01\/duterte-orders-reshuffle-within-philhealth-boc\/","title":{"rendered":"Duterte orders reshuffle within PhilHealth, BOC"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Malago Clubhouse in Malaca\u00f1ang on August 31, 2020. KING RODRIGUEZ\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday ordered the reshuffling of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC).<\/p>\n

Duterte gave this directive to newly appointed PhilHealth President and Chief Executive Officer Dante Gierran and Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero who attended the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Infectious Diseases (IATF) meeting on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI called Jagger, si Guerrero dito, Commissioner,\u00a0sabi ko sa kanya<\/em>\u00a0(I said), \u2018I want to see a reshuffle of the different regional offices within the next two or three days.\u2019 That goes for the (National Bureau of Investigation) pati PhilHealth,\u201d he said in a taped public address on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Senator Christopher \u201cBong\u201d Go later clarified that Duterte was only referring to the PhilHealth and BOC.<\/p>\n

Duterte said he will issue a memorandum on his order for those who refused to vacate their posts despite being linked to corruption.<\/p>\n

\u201cIyong mga tao na ayaw tanggalin, ibigay mo ‘yung pangalan nila<\/em>\u00a0(Those who refuse to be removed, give me their names), I will send them a memorandum,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He was particularly referring to PhilHealth regional vice presidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou study on that and ‘yung\u00a0lahat ng ano<\/em>\u00a0(all those) —\u00a0mga<\/em>\u00a0regional vice presidents,\u00a0tanggalin ninyo<\/em>\u00a0(remove them) whether performing at par or in parity with the other good ones,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Earlier, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee recommended the sacking of all PhilHealth regional directors following allegations that they were part of a mafia manipulating the state insurer\u2019s financial records.<\/p>\n

Gierran replaced former PhilHealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales who resigned on Aug. 26 after admitting to have been diagnosed with lymphoma or cancer of the lymph nodes.<\/p>\n

According to Duterte, Gierran is a lawyer and a certified public accountant who was former NBI regional director for Davao before he was appointed NBI director in 2016.<\/p>\n

Under the Universal Health Care Law, the president and chief executive officer of PhilHealth must have at least seven years of experience in the field of public health, management, finance, and health economics or a combination of any of these fields.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque defended the appointment of Gierran who, he said, has long years of experience in management as lawyer and certified public accountant.<\/p>\n

\u201cHindi naman kinakailangan na talagang ikaw ay<\/em>\u00a0health expert\u00a0para mapagana ang isang<\/em>\u00a0PhilHealth.\u00a0Importante lang po siguro, mawala iyong korapsyon diyan nang sa ganoon eh magamit iyong pondo ng<\/em>\u00a0PhilHealth\u00a0para sa kalusugan ng lahat<\/em>\u00a0(You need not to be health expert to manage PhilHealth. I think what important is to eliminate corruption so that PhilHealth funds will be used for the health of everyone),\u201d Roque said in an interview with radio DZBB.<\/p>\n

Morales resigned upon Duterte\u2019s advice for him to focus on his health first.<\/p>\n

Roque, however, said the resignation of PhilHealth officials will not shield them from possible charges, in case probe results find them liable for the supposed widespread corruption.<\/p>\n

In the public address on Monday night, Duterte urged Guerrero to address concerns about the continued smuggling of illegal drugs in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cSinabi ko sa kanya<\/em>\u00a0(I told him [Guerrero]) straight, drug is still flowing inside the country\u00a0sa<\/em>\u00a0(through) Customs,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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