NBI files graft raps vs 11 PhilHealth execs

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has filed graft charges against the former interim president and 10 other officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) for blocking the accreditation of a healthcare provider.

In a statement on Tuesday, the NBI said the complaint for graft and violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees was filed by the bureau’s anti-graft division against the PhilHealth officials before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Dr. Leilani Mercado-Asis sought assistance from the NBI after PhilHealth denied the re-accreditation of her healthcare provider in 2016.

The complainant accused the PhilHealth officials of denying her due process.

While PhilHealth said the accreditation was denied because of an administrative case filed against Asis before its prosecution department, the NBI found that there was no pending case against the complainant.

Asis said she reported the incident to the NBI as early as 2017. The probe did not push through as former PhilHealth interim president Celestina dela Serna promised that the healthcare provider would be accredited if the complaint would be withdrawn.

Asis requested the NBI to revive the case in 2020.

Dela Serna was named respondent for allegedly acting in bad faith when she promised the re-accreditation of the healthcare provider in exchange for the withdrawal of the complaint.

She was fired by President Duterte in 2018 over her alleged expensive trips while the state insurer incurred billions of pesos in losses.

The other respondents are former PhilHealth National Capital Region vice president Dennis Mas as well as PhilHealth NCR accreditation subcommittee members Nenita Epifania Balbuena, Imelda Trinidad de Vera-Pe, Janice Gem Perlas, Rofien Ison, Diode Lantora, Yasser Ismail Abbas, Allan de Villa, Alejandrino Perez and Jeffrey Pe.