Spox Roque finds PhilHealth mafia claims convincing, insurer denies

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque found the testimony of former PhilHealth anti-fraud legal officer Thorsson Montes Keith convincing, alleging that a "mafia" within the agency may have stolen approximately P15 billion.

PhilHealth, however, categorically denied these allegations, stating that Keith's claims are baseless and were made to malign officials who rejected his ambitions for higher office.

Keith revealed during a Senate hearing that the alleged syndicate has infiltrated high-ranking positions within PhilHealth, enabling their illegal operations.

The state health insurer stated that the funds in question was the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM), which was released to a total of 711 healthcare facilities to assure efficient response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PhilHealth asserted that there has never been favoritism in the release of these funds, and that releases followed existing guidelines.

The corporation also stated that IRM is governed by government accounting and auditing rules, hence, it is subject to liquidation by its recipients.

PhilHealth claimed that Keith was a job order contractor with the corporation for only nine months and was not qualified to discuss office matters.