In The past few days, Philhealth has been in the center of public scrutiny after allegations of corruption in the agency.
While in the middle of investigation from the issue one of Philhealth’s bosses filed for a resignation. Senior VP for Operations Augustus De Villa tendered his “irrevocable resignation” to CEO and President Ricardo Morales last Thursday, August 6.
Through a memorandum to the executive board, De Villa expressed his intent in leaving the office.
“I hereby tender my irrevocable resignation, effective immediately, from the service of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation,”
He did not disclose the reason for his resignation, but he said that he will cooperate with the probes done by the congress into Philhealth.
Augustus De Villa was one of the executives who were accused of corruption in the agency.
Furthermore, Sen. Panfilo Lacson knew the resignation of De Villa hoped that he would be part of an advocacy group within PhilHealth and contribute in exposing more shenanigans based on his personal knowledge.
When asked about his opinion regarding the resignation of De Villa, he said “I was observing his demeanor the whole time that PhilHealth officials were being unresponsive and evasive in answering even the simplest questions from the senators.”
“I could sense how uneasy and embarrassed he was while hearing what we all heard,”
Senate President Tito Sotto ordered a subpoena duces tecum wherein De Villa is under a legal order to present the resolution on the overpriced IT procurement in the senate hearing.
Among the accusations of corruption discovered during the Senate hearing were more than 119 million, 43 unspecified ICT (information and communications technology) resources worth 40 million, and 3 unnamed projects worth 98 million.