Resigned Philippine Health Insurance Corporation vice president for operations Augustus de Villa said on Tuesday, August 11, that he left the agency out of “delicadeza (sense of propriety)” as he could no longer serve an agency that was hounded by so much corruption allegations.

De Villa gave the reasons for his resignation when Senator Panfilo Lacson asked him to share the “main reason” for quitting PhilHealth, during the Senate investigation into alleged corruption in the agency on Tuesday.

After sharing his desire to spend more time with his family, and his vulnerability to COVID-19 in view of his age and his health, De Villa said the third – and apparently main – reason is “delicadeza.”

“Ako po ay isang taong marangal, may dignidad at integridad. Malinis po ang aking konsensiya. Naniniwala ako na hindi ako babagay na magsilbi pa sa isang ahensiya ng gobyerno na punong-puno ng alegasyon ng korapsyon at katiwalian. Ako po ay naniniwala na may katotohanan, sinadya man o hindi, at ito po ay base sa pagsusuiri lalo na po noong Martes, noong unang hearing,” De Villa said.

(I am an honorable man, with dignity and integrity. My conscience is clean. I believe I’m not suited to serve a government agency tainted by so much corruption allegations. I believe that corruption in the agency exists whether intended or not, and this is based on the investigation, especially last Tuesday, the first hearing.)

After he retired from the Armed Forces of the Philippines in August 2019, De Villa was tapped to join PhilHealth in September 2019. He said that at the time, he and fellow retired military general Ricardo Morales, who is now PhilHealth president and CEO, promised to “put things right” in the agency.

“But unfortunately, I was wrong as we now we have to grapple with a spectacle of anomalies being unearthed in this investigation in the Senate and in the House of Representatives,” De Villa said.

According to De Villa, he heard about the corruption issues in the agency even before he entered PhilHealth.

“Para sa akin, kung mapapatunayan po ang may kasalanan ay dapat maparasuhan pero ang walang kasalanan ay dapat malayang makapagpatuloy nang matapat na trabaho,” an emotional De Villa said.

(For me, those proven guilty should be punished, while those who are not should be given the chance to serve earnestly.)

De Villa tendered his “irrevocable resignation” on August 6, after serving PhilHealth for less than a year. (READ: PhilHealth senior exec resigns amid corruption mess in agency)

In a Senate inquiry on August 4, witnesses from PhilHealth itself, including resigned anti-fraud officer Thorrsson Montes Keith and PhilHealth board member Alejandro Cabading claimed alleged irregularities in PhilHealth procurements, fund disbursements, and financial statements. (READ: PhilHealth’s proposed ICT budget bloated by P734 million, says official)

During the August 4 Senate hearing, Keith claimed that De Villa ripped 6 pages of a procurement document because of alleged anomalies.

Asked about this on Tuesday, De Villa said this was in relation to the purchase of CISCO network switches that Etrobal Laborte, former executive assistant to the PhilHealth chief, had flagged as being overpriced.

De Villa said he signed the document after it was vetted by the corporate legal counsel, but he later removed the page that had his signature, recommending approval, after Laborte pointed out the overpricing. He also said that he was no longer Philhealth executive vice president at the time, so he was not supposed to be the signatory in that document. – Rappler.com