Resigned anti-fraud officer Thorrsson Montes Keith has named Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque as the "godfather" of the alleged mafia in PhilHealth.
According to Keiths allegation, Duque has direct influence and oversight being the chairman the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism. He also claimed that that it was also Duque who approved all the appointments of "almost all of the members of the mafia."
On August 4, the former anti-fraud officer of the PhilHealth, Thorrsson Montes Keith, told senators that executives of the embattled agency may have pocketed around P15 billion through fraudulent schemes., which was denied by the officers, including the embattled Duque.
Duque is also in the middle of criticism because of the government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Latest data from the Health Department showed that COVID-19 infections in the Philippines have spiked to nearly 170,000, the highest in the Southeast Asia region.
The daily record high infections and continuous spike, as well as the protests from healthcare professionals prompted the President Duterte to impose a stricter quarantine policy for two weeks.
But who really is Francisco Duque?
Duque was born on February 13, 1957. He is a Filipino physician, and government official serving as Secretary of Health since 2017 in the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte, a position he had previously held from 2005 to 2010 under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
In June 2001, President Arroyo appointed Duque as President & CEO of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation. As President of PhilHealth, he initiated PhilHealth's Plan 500 which fast tracked the enrollment of 500,000 urban poor beneficiaries into the National Health Insurance Plan in one year. It ballooned 8 million beneficiaries by the end of his term and it has become one of President Arroyo's most hyped achievements.
His connections to the so called "Philhealth Mafia" and the healthcare situation in the country has increased the calls for his resignation, not just from ordinary citizens, but also from healthcare professionals, Congressmen and Senators as well.
Amid mounting backlash, Duque said he takes “full responsibility” for his actions and decisions with regards to the country's COVID-19 response, but he denied having any involvement in the Philhealth 15 billion pesos scam.
