Character actress Dionne Monsanto joined the growing number of celebrities showing anger over the corruption mess at the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
In a series of Facebook posts, Dionne aired her exasperation over the revelation on the Philhealth corruption.
“Sa tinagal-tagal kong nagbabayad ng PhilHealth, di ko pa nagagamit. Tapos magsasara na next year?? Shuta”
https://www.facebook.com/dionne.monsanto/posts/10157856464547669
In a recent Senate hearing, former PhilHealth anti-fraud legal officer Thorrsson Keith revealed that over 15 billion pesos has been stolen by Philhealth officials in fraudulent schemes.
According to him, Philhealth is being operated by an alleged “mafia-like” syndicate that has deep roots within the state insurer and is composed mostly of PhilHealth executive committee members.
“I believe, based on my investigation, that the (public) money that had been wasted or stolen was more or less P15 billion,” he said.
Another Philhealth official, Alejandro Cabading, also disclosed the overpriced budget proposals for information and communications technology projects which amounted to 2.1 billion pesos.
In another post, Monsanto shared how heartbreaking it is that these corruption scandals came out in the time of pandemic when the government needs huge funds to fight COVID-19. And the fact that it happened to the state’s health insurer added to the pain.
https://www.facebook.com/dionne.monsanto/posts/10157857397942669
Meanwhile, in a subsequent post, Dionne seemingly threw shade on Malacanang after the Palace said that it has full trust in the PhilHealth officials being linked to the anomalies.
“Baka kaya ayaw panagutin kasi may cut. Baka lang naman.’
https://www.facebook.com/643712668/posts/10157857108432669/?d=n
Dionne’s remark may be in response to Senator Bong Go’s statement regarding Duterte’s trust in PhilHealth President Ricardo Morales.
“As of now, nabanggit niya (Duterte) sa akin na malaki pa ang tiwala niya kay Gen. Dick Morales. Sa kanyang integridad,” said Go.
Malacanang has also said that the President will not fire Morales unless there is solid evidence against him.
In a statement, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said President Duterte is not inclined to fire Morales because there is still no evidence to support it.
“The President has said that he will not fire him unless there’s evidence and I think the Senate now is in the process of documenting this evidence.
“He knows that people are counting on PhilHealth at the time of a pandemic and we cannot afford the citizenry to lose their faith and trust in the agency that is most relevant to them when there is a threat of disease,” said Roque.
