“No mafia can survive in the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) under the watch of Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.”
Thus declared PhilHealth acting president and CEO Dr. Roy Ferrer, laughing off the imagined fears of a former PhilHealth staff working with the past administration.
Dr. Ferrer scored a certain Minguita Padilla, erstwhile head executive staff of a former Health Secretary under the government of former President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino.
“The loser’s mind and defeatist attitude of Ms. Padilla cite ‘a culture of fear’ in PhilHealth, but that was the PhilHealth of the past,” Ferrer pointed out, “and such fear and trembling no longer exist in the present PhilHealth and under the strong government of President Duterte.
In a fast-breaking development, President Duterte was quoted by a television network saying, “I do not have the slightest doubt on the integrity and honesty of PhilHealth President Roy Ferrer,” in the midst of this controversy particularly related to the wrongdoing of a health center that had abused and misused PhilHealth benefits.
Mr. Duterte thenceforth ordered the arrest of the said medical facility which used deception and misrepresentation to enrich themselves.
“Ms. Padilla, who served a former Health Secretary (who figured prominently in the Dengvaxia mess), harks back to a weak-kneed and feeble government before the robust Presidency of my Boss, Rody Duterte,” Ferrer said.
“So when Ms Padilla spoke about the impotence and helplessness of the earlier PhilHealth leadership, she is referring to a thing of the past,” Ferrer added.
Acting PhilHealth President Ferrer said that the present PhilHealth board members were appointed by President Duterte, and our President’s principled stand and courageous stance have rubbed off on every Board member and, added Ferrer, “No members shrinks from the challenge to cleanse PhilHealth of shenanigans.
“Our top management executives who are directly under me are loyal to the higher ground principles and policies of a PhilHealth, and no villainous mafia member can survive within their ranks,” Ferrer emphasized.
The former PhilHealth staff “is like Rip Van Winkle who woke up after over three years, and she could not make sense of a PhilHealth that is strong and resonant,” Ferrer laughed off, adding “because she thought PhilHealth is like the cowardly, compromising, and powerless organization that it was during the time of Ms. Padilla and her boss.”
Ferrer’s advice to her: “Wake up to present day reality!”
He also clarified that so-called “mafia members” in the countryside are actually members of a syndicate of cheating, disloyal, and disgruntled PhilHealth officers who have colluded with hospitals and other health care facilities.
Due to the campaign launched by Ferrer, in coordination with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and other enforcement agencies, “this syndicate will soon disintegrate,” predicted Ferrer as a fearless forecast.
“It is correct that these are ones who defrauded PhilHealth of funds,” Ferrer added, but some of them have already been suspended, others are being investigated, a few others will soon be charged in court for criminal offenses.”
“Congress first pointed out in July last year that a ‘mafia’ exists in the state agency, and they meant these cheating and colluding officials. Their sustained but sporadic activities do not qualify them as a ‘mafia’ – but they can be called economic saboteurs,” Ferrer declared.
Ferrer’s team have already launched a corporate-wide intensive fraud detection and enforcement activities that “will catch the thieving, deceiving, and villainous officials and their band of brothers among hospitals and other healthcare facilities,” he said without mincing words.
A few months into his tenure, Ferrer ordered a reshuffle of regional vice presidents who responded with threats, refusals and delaying tactics. Their resistance was no match, however, to the grit and determination of PhilHealth President Ferrer.
Crushing fraud and abusive practices,the PhilHealth chief reiterated that control measures and reforms have already been institutionalized and are continually put in place to check fraud.
He ordered an inventory of all administrative cases that have not yet been completed, and supported senior officers assigned to hear these cases towards speedy resolution. Aside from intensified investigations, spot checks of health care providers are equally stepped up.
It even set up a dialysis database, validation of multiple claims and of deceased patients, and the adoption of the Machine Learning Identification, Detection and Analysis System (MIDAS) that analyzes voluminous claims data to detect over utilization, among others.
As a result, in the first quarter of 2019 alone, the state health insurer has decided on 34 cases against 14 facilities and professionals; and is currently hearing 4,419 cases more.
As of April this year, it also reported completion of 1,432 investigations even as it continues investigating close to 9,000 more reports of fraudulent activities where the highest numbers of cases come from Calabarzon, Northern Mindanao, and Davao regions.
Geared for UHC The named source also doubted PhilHealth’s ability to manage the P257 billion funds required to bankroll the Universal Health Care.
“Again, this is baseless skepticism. They always attribute the entire amount to PhilHealth when the Department of Health requires a large part of the fund for its service delivery, governance and regulation functions – the fund is not entirely for PhilHealth alone,” Ferrer asserted.
“Our members and stakeholders can truly rely on us when we say that their funds are in safe hands, and if there really are who defraud the Program – we will not stop until they are put behind bars. And the stolen funds will be recovered for the sake of our members,” Ferrer assured.
“Under the Duterte government and under my watch, PhilHealth will move forward with uncommon courage and conviction, to fulfill the mandate of the Universal Health Care Law, to make a feeble PhilHealth a thing of the past that must be forgotten. A stronger PhilHealthis our present reality,” Ferrer conclude. (PR)
No ‘mafia’ can survive in PhilHealth under Duterte gov’t – Dr. Ferrer
DOH to schools: conduct massive cleanup in surroundings
MAASIN CITY- The Department of Health (DOH) has called on officials and teachers of public schools to have a regular cleaning of the school surroundings in an effort to ward off presence of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
Letty Tan and Dr. Verna Fernandez, DOH representatives for the city and province, respectively, made the call in front of school heads and district supervisors during the Oplan Balik Eskwela (OBE) convergence meeting at the city and province in two separate occasions recently.
Dengue awareness has always been part of the opening of schools, Tan said at the city Department of Education (DepEd) schools division meeting with other government agencies, May 27.
“Every 3 o’clock in the afternoon, teachers and students do the cleaning inside and outside their classrooms,” Tan stressed.
At the DepEd provincial division office, a similar message was aired by Dr. Fernandez in the inter-agency meeting on May 31.
“Stagnant water in flower vases and used tires, and other water-collecting containers must be emptied so mosquitoes can have no breeding spaces,” Fernandez said, adding that dengue has always been associated with the onset of the rainy season.
This week with the opening of classes, the city and province experienced heavy rains yesterday afternoon, Thursday June 6, while in previous nights it was also raining.
Aside from spreading awareness on dengue, Tan also discussed some health highlights for the month of June, such as taking care of one’s kidney by drinking eight glasses of water everyday to prevent kidney stones, the deployment of nurses, and blood donors’ day.
Fernandez, for her part, talked also about DOH’s continuing efforts at measles vaccination where she reported that the oldest affected so far was 80 years old, the high rate of teenage pregnancy in the province, and the regulation on the use of cellular phones among schoolchildren during class hours. (LDL/MMP/PIA-8, Southern Leyte)
Leyte remains peaceful, says Col. Bade
Citing decrease of crime incidence
TACLOBAN CITY- The province of Leyte remains to be one of the peaceful areas in region, if not, in the entire country.
This was disclosed by provincial police director, Colonel Rolando Bade who made this assertion during the provincial meeting of the peace and order council held on June 7.
Bade used the reduction of the crime rate across the province as his basis on his claim.
Based on their record, the crime rate of Leyte, using the January to May period, declined by 1.07 percent compared to the same period of last year.
The crime incidence of the province covering the first five months of the year was 1,198 which is lower compared to the 1,211 of last year’s same period.
Bade credited the enhanced managing police operations mechanisms and the maximization of human and logistical resources as reasons why they were able to bring down the crime incidence of Leyte.
Of the 1,198 crime volume of the province, 963 of them were classified as non-index crime or those offenses involving properties and violation of special laws and 235 index crimes or those involving persons.
“While index crime was lowered from 332 reported incident in 2018 to 235 in 2019, the non-index crime for January to May increased to 963 cases from 879 cases due to intensive operation against illegal drugs, illegal gambling, illegal fishing, illegal logging and operation against loose firearms,” Col Bade explained.
Bade also said that crime solution efficiency increased to 1.46 percent or 81.72 percent in 2019 from 80.26 percent in 2018 and the crime clearance efficiency also went up to 98.05 percent in 2019 from 97.03 percent in 2018 or an increase of 1.02 percent.
The police provincial director also said that the average monthly crime rate went down from 15.8 percent of last year’s first five months to just 15.71 percent of the same period or a decrease of 4.01 percent while the average monthly index crime rate also declined to 3 percent from 4.30 percent compared to the same period last year or a 30.23 percent difference.
In the campaign against illegal drugs, Leyte Police Provincial Office (PPO) conducted a total of 95 police operations and arrested a total of 105 persons with two illegal drug personalities killed.
About 69.65 grams of shabu and 1, 012.45 grams of marijuana or a total value of P658, 401 were confiscated during the operations.
A total of 194 cases were filed in various courts by the Leyte PPO in relation to anti-illegal drug operations.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
‘Hello Kitty’ classroom brings joy to students
TACLOBAN CITY- There is a classroom in one of the public elementary schools here in the city that is getting attention.
This is because the classroom of Eilyn Cinco,a Grade II teacher at the San Fernando Central School (SFCS), is adorned with things to include some instructional materials, with Hello kitty, one of the world’s most famous cartoon characters.
Cinco, 49, said that aside from being a fan of the Japanese-creation fictional character, her move to have her classroom adorned with Hello Kitty is for her students healed from their traumatic experience during the onslaught of super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ that hit the city in 2013.
“These decorations make them happy and somehow, a sort of therapeutic to them after the trauma that they have experienced due to Yolanda because of the lively colors,” the mother of two said.
Her 32 students, who are 7 and 8 years old, live along the San Fernando district, located along the shores, and among the city’s hard-hit areas due to Yolanda.
Cinco, whose been teaching for 30 years now, said that aside from spending her own money, the stuffs inside her classroom with the Hello Kitty character plastered on them, were bought by her through donations from her friends.
Inside her tiled-floor classroom, the Hello Kitty character could be seen at the water dispenser, throw pillows, instructional boards, fans, and even the calculator they uses.
The arm chairs are painted in lively colors, adding attraction to her classroom.
“Some say that I am gender-biased because Hello Kitty is only for girls. But my boy-students also appreciate Hello Kitty and they say, they love it,” she said.
She also said that the Hello Kitty decors inside their classroom does not compete the attention of her students.
Aiselle Fabella said that she is thankful to her teacher, for decorating their classroom with Hello Kitty.
“I am happy that we are surrounded with Hello Kitty stuffs. I am also a fan of Hello Kitty,” the seven-year old student, whose bag is also decorated with Hello Kitty, said.
School principal Felieta Waniwan said that she is really glad that Cinco made such an improvement of her classroom.
“Among teachers, classrooms serves as their second homes. They spent not only effort but money in improving their classrooms,” she said.
Waniwan said that a beautiful and colorful classroom add excitement among students to study more and attend their classes.
“They love to be inside a classroom that is colorful and lively,” she said.
The school principal said that she is encouraging her 58 other teachers to improve their classrooms.
The school has 60 classrooms with 1,333 enrolled students.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
PNP: peaceful celebrations for Tacloban, Ormoc fiestas
As thousands expected to attend the two occasions
BY JOEY A. GABIETA
TACLOBAN CITY- Police authorities are assuring that the forthcoming fiesta of Tacloban and Ormoc cities will be safe and orderly.
And the regional headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) is giving its support to ensure that no untoward incident would happen during the big events of the two premier cities of the region, said General Ariel Arcenas, police regional deputy director for administration.
Both Colonel Lope Macauba,Jr., deputy director for administration of the Tacloban City Police Office, and Col. Joel Camacho, deputy director for operations of the Ormoc City Police Office, said that they have laid down security preparations geared in ensuring that the celebration in their respective areas would be peaceful and orderly.
Tacloban celebrates its annual fiesta every June 30 in honor of its patron, Senior Santo Niño, while Ormoc marks its own fiesta celebration every June 29 in honor of its patron saints, Saints Peter and Paul.
Hundreds of thousands of people attend in both city fiesta.
Both city governments, in coordination with their respective parishes, have lined up activities to make their fiesta celebrations colorful and lively.
For the Tacloban fiesta, among its highlights is the holding of the Sangyaw Parade of Lights and its Piña Festival for Ormoc fiesta.
Here in the city, Macauba said, ‘enough’ security personnel are being deployed in areas where most of the people converged, particularly at the Balyu-an area where nightly activities are being staged.
Meantime, police personnel are also being deployed by the Leyte Police Provincial Office at the Remedios Trinidad Romualdez (RTR) Park, also in this city, where similar nightly also being held.
Macauba said that the security preparation that they have laid down started on May 30 where the grand Santacruzan was held here in Tacloban City.
“We have made the security preparation since May 30 and we have deployed more than enough security personnel at Balyu-an Amphitheater,” he said.
Aside from police, they have also coordinated with other security personnel like the Army and traffic personnel of the Tacloban city government.
Macauba said that members of the Tacloban city police ordnance division and K-9 were also deployed at Balyu-an Amphitheater.
“We have also deployed inside the Balyu-an Amphitheater in plain clothes,” he said.
For his part, Col. Camacho said that they have also made up their own security preparation in Ormoc City as they also to have their annual fiesta.
He said that in areas where major events relative to the fiesta celebration like the city plaza, security personnel are being deployed.
“(And) so far, we have not monitored any untoward incident,” Camacho said.