Quezon City, 15 January 2020— The Task Force Against Corruption of the Department of Justice (DOJ) is set to look into and file a plunder case against one of the legislators named by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as those involved in graft and corruption last December 28.
The plunder case stems from a complaint lodged by Armando Angcana, a barangay official and resident of Lucena City that shows how Philhealth funds were funneled thru a private hospital owned by no less than Quezon Congresswoman Angelina “Helen” Tan and her husband, Ronnel, a regional director of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Region One.
Over 324 million pesos from Philhealth’s Interim Reimbursement Mechanism or IRM flowed thru RAKKK Prophet Medical Center, a small hospital based in Gumaca Quezon. Angcana questions how a small 20-bed capacity, level 2 category hospital can get that huge amount of funds over a period of just eight (8) years, from 2012 to 2020.
Atty. Romeo Cobarrubias, legal counsel of the complainant, says there is enough evidence to prosecute the Tan spouses for violating REPUBLIC ACT 3019 or the ANTI-GRAFT AND CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT and REPUBLIC ACT 7080 or ANTI PLUNDER LAW AS AMENDED BY REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7659.
“ We have evidence to prove plunder due to the enormous amounts involved, 324 million pesos. Receipts issued by the Philhealth showing the transfer of these funds to RAKKK Prophet Medical Center indicate overcharging and possible ghost patients”
While the Tans deny ownership of the said hospital, papers obtained by the Task Force thru Atty. Cobarrubias show that the hospital owners are the teenage children of the Tans.
“ It is highly improbable for these young children to manage and administer the affairs of a hospital, even a small clinic. “
The hospital, RAKKK Medical Center Incorporated, reportedly got over 324 million pesos from the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) of Philhealth, a scheme that the Senate and the House learned was used by unscrupulous individuals to sifhon funds off the agency.
Angcana says the hospital got most of these funds at the height of House investigations against Philhealth, when Tan sat as Chairman of the Committee on Health.
Atty. Cobarrubias says receipts and transactions made by RAKKK Medical Center with the Philhealth show that a steady stream of public funds went to the hospital that amounted to 324 million pesos.
“ From the entire year of 2020, Congresswoman Tan’s hospital received most funds from the Philhealth’s illicit Interium Reimbursement Mechanism inspite of the fact that the hospital did not receive actual COVID-19 cases.”
The Tan spouses likewise failed a lifestyle check after reports say that the Congresswoman’s husband Ronnel threw as much as 3 million pesos in cash in the air during a birthday party in his hometown in Quezon province. One of the party’s attendees filed cases against the Tans for ostentatious display of wealth.
