Wednesday, August 19, 2020

The God Culture: The Ignorance of Timothy Jay Schwab

The God Culture is back! Where did Tim and the Gang go? He says they were doing stuff and that we can expect his book to be published real soon. That sounds great. But not everything he says sounds great. Most of what he says sounds like a dying alley cat blowing a rusty trombone in a garbage can.


Timothy thinks he is very clever. After almost a two-month-long hiatus from Youtube he posted not only a video but also several very long block quotes in the comment section of this blog. They all started off with a witty remark about Scrabble which he illustrated with this photo:


"Duh" is indeed worth seven points in Scrabble, 21 if you use a triple word score tile, but Timothy messes up the joke with this illustration by removing the points from each letter! If it is only in Scrabble that words are worth points what is Tim's point by showing us pointless Scrabble tiles? This is a picture Tim either borrowed or bought from elsewhere. It can be found at this link. He says this phrase in his latest video about the Lord's Day and he posted it in the comment section of several posts on this blog.
“One who is well-versed in ignorance knows much of nothing.” Timothy said that. Only in Scrabble does the word Duh have value. Yet, this blog can be translated very quickly by those who are truly educated as duh, duh, duh, duh, duh.
http://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-god-culture-law-is-what-redeems-us.html?showComment=1597470714275#c9103402615296056741
The joke doesn't even make sense because "duh" is an exclamation which means "obviously." If my blog can be translated by the truly educated as duh, duh, duh, duh, duh then that means the truly educated know what I write about Tim and his ridiculously heretical group is obvious, obvious, obvious, obvious, obvious!

Tim is attempting to use the word "duh" in a pejorative way derisively mocking me as being ignorant. That makes the joke fall even flatter because in that case it is Tim and not myself who is employing this word which has no points outside of Scrabble. No points for you, Tim!

What is wrong with ignorance? Tim revels in ignorance. Timothy is profoundly ignorant in matters of history, theology, and science. He literally believes the earth is flat! It is only a man like him, who professes to have unraveled hidden mysteries and proclaims in video after video that he knows more than either the Church, theologians, scholars, or scientists who is truly ignorant. In his newest video about the Lord's Day he says the following:

https://youtu.be/DUoXknu9cno
12:30  Sorry Pope whomever you are. A sign of unbelief according to the Bible so maybe you ought to try reading it. 
16:37  It's right there in scripture many times over. Scholars just aren't looking at this because they accept things in a paradigm and that paradigm needs to be tested. That's supposed to be their job 
19:55 So why doesn't the Catholic Church and the Protestants today who just haven't done the research on the topic even follow such sinking sand doctrines? Well they just don't do their research at all. 
29:03  A little word to such scholars who are screwing up the Bible and misleading many: Yeah we have an attitude. We are very angry, righteously angry with such manipulators who can't do their research. One who is well versed in ignorance knows much of nothing. Duh! Only in Scrabble the board game does that word have value. Yet that is their doctrines. Put that in a mission statement.
Tim is right and the Church is wrong. That is the tone of every single one of his videos. The Church has gotten everything wrong for the past 2,000 years. Bible scholars and historians are stupid while Tim is wise and intelligent. No one has done any actual research into the issues of the sabbath or grace vs. the law except for Tim. For 2,000 years the whole church has been too dumb to understand the Apostle Paul except for Timothy Jay Schwab. Everyone else has been following a false paradigm.

Tim thinks all things can be known if one only studies hard enough. What a fool. Tim is not content with mystery. He is not satisfied with sincerely saying, "I don't know." When he does say, "I don't know," it is always qualified with a maybe or perhaps and is never sincere. That is the height of ignorance and the road to folly. Better to take Socrates for our model when it comes to being ignorant.
This awareness of one’s own absence of knowledge is what is known as Socratic ignorance, and it is arguably the thing for which Socrates is most famous.  Socratic ignorance is sometimes called simple ignorance, to be distinguished from the double ignorance of the citizens with whom Socrates spoke.  Simple ignorance is being aware of one’s own ignorance, whereas double ignorance is not being aware of one’s ignorance while thinking that one knows.  In showing many influential figures in Athens that they did not know what they thought they did, Socrates came to be despised in many circles.
https://iep.utm.edu/socrates/#SSH2bi
Tim is guilty of double ignorance. In every single one of his videos he spews forth falsehood after falsehood declaring that each lie is the truth. Whether it is the lie that the ancient Greeks sailed to the Philippines or the lie that Filipinos traded directly with and sailed to Egypt or the lie that Negroes, Kurds, and Filipinos are Israelites or the lie that for 4,000 years Enoch has been living in the Garden of Eden at the bottom of the Sulu Sea just off the coast of Palawan Tim continually vomits forth falsehoods masquerading as truth and proudly struts like a vain cock crowing that he alone has solved all these historical mysteries while the scholars, theologians, and historians remain in the dark.

However all the "research" he has done does not amount to much except fraud. Tim manipulates or misrepresents his sources. Many times he has not even read them. The bulk of his research consists in copy/pasting from Wikipedia and from other blogs. He has done absolutely zero archeological research, which is absolutely essential to verify his claims, and he says to hold him to such a standard is evil! His modus operandi is to take the work of other credible people and fashion it to fit his uncredible narrative of the Philippines being Ophir and Filipinos being Israelites. Tim then spits on those whose research he has exploited and cherry-picked claiming they are Rothschild or Jesuit propagandists because they come to conclusions opposite that of himself! When he claims:
"If you have not watched our videos, we source our slides and lay out our positions in a very deep method."
http://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-god-culture-law-is-what-redeems-us.html?showComment=1597470714275#c9103402615296056741 
you know it's a terrible joke. I have proven all of this in several blog posts which resulted in Tim editing his videos to hide his deceit which resulted in even more deception!

Tim is proud of the fact that he is not part of any church organization or denomination. He says so at the beginning of each video. He revels in the fact that no one can pin him down or box him in. You know what else can't be pinned down? A writhing, squirmy, venomous snake. And that is what Tim is.

Just take a look at these instances representative of Tim's linguistic methods.

https://youtu.be/9wXS-ckrm0U
11:39 Benham likely indetifies that on the other side of the Pison river to the right to the land of the Garden of Eden is in fact Ham's territory......By the way if you are listening Rosette, Rosette Delacroix has a Youtube channel in which she discusses that some mountains might actually be ancient giant trees. We don't know but it certainly makes sense. What does the shape of the Benham Rise look like to you? Perhaps a tree stump? Maybe? We'll leave that for Rosette but interesting indeed. 
What a load of absolute malarkey! Benham Rise was named after Admiral Andrew Ellicot Kennedy Benham. The surname Benham is English and not Hebrew. Benham is completely unrelated to the Hebrew language. It means:
English: habitational name from a place in Berkshire named with the Old English personal name Benna + Old English hamm ‘river meadow’. 
https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=benham
To be fair this is a viewer observation and apparently not a Timothy Jay Schwab original but he is legitimizing this kind of ignorant linguistic interpretation by including it in his video. In Tim's videos he advocates the principle that if a Filipino word has any phonetic resemblance to a Hebrew word then it is by default a Hebrew word and proof that Filipinos are indeed Israelites. The most egregious example is where he breaks down the name Bathala attempting to prove it is of Hebrew origin and  declares that the pagan deity Bathala is the Hebrew God YHWH!


https://youtu.be/7pmGkSWsIbo
38:08 Of course some will say, "Nuh-uh" just as they did with Maharlika yet no one has actually proven that that is not Hebrew. Nor will they be able to prove that this is not Hebrew especially not with stretched etymologies that don't even fit no matter how much they stretch and they aren't even the same letters.  This is exact. Wow!
What a profoundly ignorant argument. Tim says that because no one has proven him wrong that means he is right. He has shifted the burden of proof from himself to his audience and expects his detractors to prove a negative! Tim does not have to prove he is right, you have to prove he is wrong.

You will hear him employ this argument in many of his videos. "We have proven that the Philippines is the Garden of Eden, etc and in three years no one has been able to prove us wrong." Fittingly for Tim that is called the argument from ignorance and is one of the many logical fallacies Tim commits on a regular basis.
Argument from ignorance (from Latinargumentum ad ignorantiam), also known as appeal to ignorance (in which ignorance represents "a lack of contrary evidence"), is a fallacy in informal logic. It asserts that a proposition is true because it has not yet been proven false or a proposition is false because it has not yet been proven true. This represents a type of false dichotomy in that it excludes the possibility that there may have been an insufficient investigation to prove that the proposition is either true or false. It also does not allow for the possibility that the answer is unknowable, only knowable in the future, or neither completely true nor completely false. In debates, appeals to ignorance are sometimes used in an attempt to shift the burden of proof.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance
In other words:


This is what you get when you reject philosophy and call it a creation of the Nephilim. You get illogical arguments and devilish casuistry that would make any Jesuit beam with joy.

By the way Benham Rise has a new name courtesy of Duterte.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/22/17/duterte-renames-benham-rise-to-philippine-rise
“All departments, subdivisions, agencies, and instrumentalities of the government shall henceforth use and employ the name ‘Philippine Rise’ in all official documents in referring to the undersea feature,” the EO reads.
Duterte just blew The God Culture's argument right out of the waters! There is a name for Tim's linguistic method. It's called apophenia.
Apophenia (/æpˈfniə/) is the tendency to mistakenly perceive connections and meaning between unrelated things. The term (German: Apophänie) was coined by psychiatrist Klaus Conradin his 1958 publication on the beginning stages of schizophrenia. He defined it as "unmotivated seeing of connections [accompanied by] a specific feeling of abnormal meaningfulness". He described the early stages of delusional thought as self-referential, over-interpretations of actual sensory perceptions, as opposed to hallucinations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophenia
There are really only three choices about Tim. He is either very ignorant and ill-informed or he is rather well informed but malevolently chooses to withhold information from his audience. The third choice is that God has sent Tim a lying spirit to deceive him just as he did to Ahab. Take his new video about The Lord's Day for example.

Tim does not tell his audience about the entire early church keeping the Lord's Day to celebrate the resurrection as well as keeping the sabbath. He does not discuss the relationship between the Gentile Church and the Jewish Synagogue. He does not discuss why the church gradually stopped observing the sabbath as the Church and Synagogue drifted further apart. He does not address later Church synods which wrote canons forbidding any mixing with the Jews or observances of Jewish practices, i.e. the Mosaic Levitical law. He fails to discuss the last few verses of Acts where the Jews reject Christ and Paul says the Gentiles will not reject this salvation (Acts 28:28.) Does Tim know anything of that? Does he know the difference between the Church and the Synagogue? From his videos it is apparent he knows only the high points of Church History such as Constantine, Nicea I, and whatever he can pull from Wikipedia to justify his legalistic heresy of "the law is what redeems us."

Tim takes a rather complex historical subject and thinks he has stripped it down to the bare essentials which is the Bible says keep the seventh day sabbath so do it. He deceitfully frames the question wrong and asks for proof that he knows cannot be produced. The question isn't whether the sabbath has been changed but rather why do Christians worship on the first day of the week and not the seventh. Because he rejects proper Bible exegesis he misses the mark and comes up with a wrong interpretation of not only Hebrews but of the entire Bible. For Tim Jesus is not our sabbath in whom we rest from all our works. No, no, no! There are no shadows or types which must be fulfilled according to Tim. 
Yada Yadda: The law of Moshe is a type. A shadow. The antitype or the fulfillment is what the Messiah revealed to the disciples and to the people in general.  
The God Culture: We agree on the Pharisees indeed. But Type, antitype? That's scholar babble and certainly not Bible language
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08ZD_IwDkuU&lc=Ugy8Ijt0W8_5MC0sXqN4AaABAg
In his new video about the Lord's Day Tim even goes so far as to interpret a prophecy of Christ as being not a prophecy of Christ.

https://youtu.be/DUoXknu9cno?t=1212
20:13  Here's the Catechism of the Catholic Church according to the.....Vatican. That's still Catholic right? It separates the sabbath and the Lord's Day into two separate sections but leaves them together. No one can really do that by the way. Now it begins this section on the Lord's Day with Psalm 118 which we actually quoted early on in this video before.  
So the Catholic Church agrees David is talking about the Sabbath there by the way. But did David live in Messiah's time? N-n-n-no. He lived a thousand years prior. So what was the Sabbath to David? I mean to use that scripture here is completely illiterate. Saturday!  Not Sunday! So right there they're leading off with a scripture that says the Lord's Day is Saturday! It's right there. They're not even reading the scripture under their nose. Now no one can debate that.  
Here is the context of Psalm 118:
Psalm 118:19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord: 
20 This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter. 
21 I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. 
22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. 
23 This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. 
24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. 
25 Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. 
26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.
Imagine how much one has to hate Jesus Christ and despise his work on the cross and His resurrection in order to twist those passages to be anything less than a prophecy of the Messiah. Yet that is exactly what Tim has done to this passage. Like an atheist he mocks the prophetical meaning of these words by saying, "David lived a thousand years before Christ," not even realizing that David did not write this Psalm! What utter ignorance and impious blasphemy spews forth from this vile, foul-mouthed basilisk! Asaph aptly described this wretched creature:
Psalm 50:19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.
Psalm 118 is a Messianic Psalm. It is a prophecy of Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself declares this fact in the Gospels. The Catholic Church is not admitting that the Sabbath is the Lord's Day by quoting Psalm 118:24. Tim is transposing his blasphemous interpretation onto the Catholics! That is more of his faulty logic and argumentation. 

The Catholics are also not admitting that the Sabbath has been changed. They are declaring that Christ fulfilled the Sabbath by rising on the first day of the week. Perhaps Tim should have read the whole section on the Lord's Day which explains all of that. But Tim does not discuss the prophetic nature of the text or its implications in the Church and history. Instead he derisively dismisses it and proceeds at great length to attempt to prove that Jesus rose on Saturday and not early Sunday morning before sunrise. For Tim there is no prophecy of Christ in this verse. Types are scholar babble and not Bible language after all. 

If Tim really believed what he was teaching he would say even less about Jesus Christ than he already does because according to him "the law is what redeems us!" Though he would say otherwise in Tim's system there is absolutely no need for the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. This man thinks he is restoring the truth and tearing down "false paradigms" and "doctrines of men" when in fact he is urging Filipinos to keep the law in all its rigor thus regressing to the spiritual childhood and bondage from which Jesus came to free us.
Galatians 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Before I bring this display of Tim's ignorance to a close I want to leave you with his latest rant against Youtube and Google. Did you know Tim is a dangerous guy because he has restored the Philippines to its rightful place in Bible prophecy?
33:22 But it goes through their filter because it's very dangerous to teach people to keep the Sabbath and to restore His ways dontcha know? That is the ultimate threat to them, oh indeed, as well as restoring the Philippines as Ophir and it's rightful place especially in prophecy. Ooo! Not something ol' Gog the Prince Demon wants to hear because they will condemn him and his ways. 
Well enjoy your reign Google and Youtube because you will not continue to get away with this much longer especially not in the Philippines. In the meantime we are not stopping but forging forward on even more platforms and with more girth than ever. They will all have to face Yahuah in time and their own customers as well who will turn on them because no one wants their brand of censorship. It is not only illegal it is highly unethical and very evil.
Curiously Tim fails to tell us which law Google is breaking when they censor anyone. That's because such a law does not exist. It's impossible to take Tim's claims seriously that Facebook and Google continue to censor him when all his social media accounts are still active, The God Culture is still in search results, and his videos remain monetized.

How much income are you earning through the Youtube partner program, Tim?


https://youtu.be/0o7IILG0qbA

As I have said before if Facebook and Google were really trying to censor Tim and the Gang they would do it. They would deplatform him just like they did Alex Jones and a host of other people more credible than the incredibly ignorant Timothy Jay Schwab.

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Insurgency: Amnesty for Abu Sayyaf Leader

This week a top commander of Abu Sayyaf was arrested by the PNP.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1112222
The Davao City Police Office (DCPO) arrested a top leader of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group here on Thursday evening. 
Col. Kirby Kraft, DCPO director, said they served the warrant of arrest to Abduljihad "Edang" Susukan at the residence of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chairman Nur Misuari in Yñigue Subdivision in Barangay Ma-a.
He said police officers initiated the negotiation after finding out that Susukan was brought to the city to seek medical attention. 
Kraft told Philippine News Agency Friday that upon receiving an intelligence report that Susukan was in the city, they immediately secured his warrant of arrest from Sulu and Camp Crame. 
Susukan has standing arrest warrants for 23 counts of murder, 10 counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention, and six counts of frustrated murder. 
“He is in our custody right now and we are processing his transfer. Anytime today he will be transferred to Manila,” Kraft said. 
In a statement, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Archie Gamboa has also confirmed the arrest of Susukan being facilitated by DCPO. 
He also thanked Misuari for facilitating the negotiation. 
"His giving himself up to Mr. Misuari is not the surrender contemplated under the law and does not make him immune from arrest," he added. 
Susukan, who is wanted for numerous crimes and atrocities, surrendered to Misuari in Jolo, Sulu last April.
There are a lot of troubling details about this story. In April Abduljihad Susukan surrendered to MNLF leader and Duterte friend Misuari instead of the government. He was then under the protection of the MNLF and allowed to move freely. According to the Malaysian Star:

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/08/13/militant-spotted-moving-freely
According to regional intelligence sources, Misuari brought Idang to Davao to have him fitted with a prosthetic replacement for his left arm, which he lost during a gun battle with the Philippine armed forces in Jolo Island early last year. 
The sources also said Misuari is expected to meet with Duterte in the next few days. 
Misuari, whose MNLF base is in Jolo Island, is in Davao days after armed clashes between his faction and the rival MNLF group of Yusof Jikiri, who heads the MNLF council of 15. Misuari has pledged to Duterte to bring peace to the southern Muslim Mindanao region and crush the Abu Sayyaf and other Islamic State-related groups in the southern Philippines. 
Misuari and Jikiri are part of the MNLF peace coordinating committee set up by Duterte. 
But intelligence sources said the rivalry between the one-time comrades fighting for an independent Muslim Mindanao state in the 1970s and 80s is growing. 
Jikiri, who is working closely with the Philippine security forces, has formed the MNLF-Anti-Kidnapping and Terrorism Task Force (MNLF-AKTTF) to act against the Abu Sayyaf .However, tensions have been growing between the Misuari and Jikiri groups. 
Misuari has facilitated the surrender of notorious Abu Sayyaf members. 
In contrast, Jikiri’s MNLF-AKTFF has joined forces with the Philippine military and police to hunt down Abu Sayyaf top leaders, including Radullan Sahiron @ one-armed commander and Hajan Sawadjaan. 
According to intelligence sources, Misuari’s group was allowing Abu Sayyaf gunmen to seek shelter or protection in the MNLF camp in Jolo under the guise of surrender.
According to unnamed intelligence sources the MNLF is in the midst of a rivalry between Misuari and Jikiri. Misuari is allowing ASG members to surrender to him while Jikari is working with the AFP and PNP to hunt ASG leaders. Misuari took Susukan to Davao to get a prosthetic arm.  But he later contradicted this story.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/751321/lorenzana-misuari-claiming-he-brought-asg-leader-susukan-to-surrender-him-to-authorities/story/
Security forces were not aware that Abu Sayyaf Group leader Anduljihad "Edang" Susukan arrived in Davao City to have a medical check-up, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Friday. 
"Nobody knew that Susukan arrived in Davao with (Moro National Liberation Front founder Nur) Misuari last Sunday until his picture appeared in the media the other day," Lorenzana said in a message to GMA News Online. 
He (Susukan) went with Misuari to Davao to have a prosthetics done on his severed hand," he added. 
The Defense chief said, based on information he obtained, Misuari is claiming that he brought the Abu Sayyaf leader to yield him to the authorities. 
“Misuari claims that he brought Susukan to surrender him to the authorities,” Lorenzana said. 
Asked if the military was not able to detect Susukan's movement from Sulu to Davao City, Lorenzana said: "He escaped because first, we trust Misuari. At any rate, it was good and he was caught." 
According to Lorenzana, authorities will still investigate if Misuari could be charged for his action. 
"We will investigate. But the mere fact that he brought Susukan to Davao away from his bailiwick in Sulu and alone could mean only one thing," Lorenzana said. 
Lorenzana said it is also possible that Misuari wants to bring Susukan to President Rodrigo Duterte. 
"Maybe Misuari really intended to turn him over. We suspect that he wanted to bring Susukan to the President and waiting for a chance," he said. "But we learned about it, we had him arrested, and Misuari readily and peacefully gave him up."
How is it that the AFP and PNP knew nothing about this man's movements until they saw his photo in a Malaysian newspaper? If that really is the case then the Malaysian Star's sources can't be Philippine intelligence. So who are they?

Lorenzana's answer as to why they did not know is a non-answer. If Misuari really wanted to bring Susukan to Duterte then the government should drop all trust they have for him. Duterte should have never lobbied for the arrest warrant against him to be suspended. How would Misuari have gotten Susukan past the Presidential Security Guard? 

It would not be out of character for Misuari to clandestinely present a top leader of the ASG before Duterte as he has proposed amnesty for them.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/27/16/duterte-misuari-wants-amnesty-for-abu-sayyaf
President Rodrigo Duterte revealed Tuesday that Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founder Nur Misuari wants to include the Abu Sayyaf Group in peace talks with the government. 
Duterte added that Misuari also wants amnesty for members of the terrorist group. 
(I've been waiting for (Nur) Misuari but he seems equivocal. He is proposing to include the Abu Sayyaf Group in the peace talks, and eventually, make them eligible for general amnesty.) 
Duterte said he rejected the proposal outright. He said he is willing to drop the talks with Misuari altogether if he insists on bringing in the Abu Sayyaf. 
(I said, if that is the case, it's better if we drop the talks. I will not, for the life of me, as a matter of principle. Forget about it.) 
He had some harsh words for the terrorist group. 
"Why should I talk to animals? What's the point? Ni walang awa. (They show no mercy.)" 
Duterte said his administration will not deal amicably with the terrorist group. 
(To my Moro brethren, my proposal is federalism. But if you come to me with a mixed crowd, which is with the Abu Sayyaf, you better get lost. You wait for another president.)
Will Duterte now tell Misuari, "You better get lost?" 

Despite backing the terrorist group MILF controlling the BARMM the AFP says the prospect of a leader of Abu Sayyaf being granted amnesty is worrisome. 


https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1321898/amnesty-eyed-for-abu-sayyaf-leader-worries-military-brass
Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay on Friday lauded the arrest of notorious Abu Sayyaf leader Anduljihad Susukan as “a major blow” on the leadership of Sulu-based terror group, but the incident also bared serious differences of opinion on the country’s security policies. 
The bone of contention, military sources said, was the presidential amnesty that allegedly underpinned a surrender deal brokered by Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chair Nur Misuari, President Rodrigo Duterte’s special economic envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). 
Gapay claimed he was not made aware of Susukan’s trip to Davao and so did Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who told GMA News Online: “Nobody knew that Susukan arrived in Davao… until his picture appeared in the media the other day.” 
Philippine National Police chief Archie Gamboa also denied knowledge of Susukan’s arrival and said, in a statement, that local police “initiated the negotiation after finding out that Susukan was brought to Davao City to seek medical attention.” 
But a day after three of the country’s top security officials claimed to have been kept out of the loop, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, the President’s daughter, revealed that security officials knew all along about Susukan’s journey to Davao City. 
“We were aware, including law enforcement groups, that he is coming to Davao City. In fact, we were informed by those from his point of origin,” the mayor told reporters on Friday afternoon. 
Confronted with the conflicting statements and eyewitness accounts, Army chief Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, who used to head the Western Mindanao Command which includes Sulu, admitted that the Aug. 9 flight of Misuari and Susukan from Sulu to Davao City was known to Sulu and Davao authorities. 
The Jolo Municipal Police Station, in a statement, said that a private Bombardier jet with tail number RP-C7588—the same number of a plane that the President rode to Singapore in 2018 for a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations—arrived in Jolo at around 8:30 in the morning of Sunday. 
Witnesses said Misuari and Susukan then arrived at Jolo Airport in a convoy of heavily armed escorts wearing MNLF uniforms. Misuari even chatted with military and police officials at the airport’s departure area before enplaning with eight others, including Susukan. 
Hours later, the Bombardier jet landed at the old Davao International Airport. The airport’s old terminal shares the same space with the Philippine Air Force, including the Presidential Airlift Wing. 
When asked how Misuari could travel to Davao with the fugitive Susukan, Lorenzana said: “Nakalusot dahil [Slipped through because] first, we trust Misuari. At any rate, mabuti na rin at nahuli siya.” 
Sobejana agreed that the military considered Misuari a partner in the peace effort and that officials had already heard of rumors that Susukan surrendered to the MNLF leader in April but they did not receive any word from Misuari.
Everything about this story is worrisome. From the AFP and DND Secretary Lorenzana brazenly lying to the public disavowing any knowledge of Susukan's arrival in Davao to the fact that he flew with Misurai to Davao on a presidential jet to the fact that the AFP were not informed of his surrender to Misuari in April yet still trust the man. It sounds like President Duterte knew about Suskan's arrival. Perhaps he facilitated it by providing his own jet? Would there have been a meeting between the two? This is not just incompetence. It is treachery. I am going go out on a limb and surmise that the killing of AFP intel agents by PNP officers in Jolo on June 29th is connected to all this mess.

The latest quarterly report of Operation Pacific Eagle has been released. Let's take a look.


This quarter, ISIS–East Asia (ISIS-EA) conducted violent terrorist activity in the Philippines as the coronavirus disease–2019 (COVID-19) pandemic strained the resources of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), contributed to social and economic tension across the country, and placed constraints on the capacity of U.S. military advisors to support their Philippine partners. As has been the case since the beginning of OPE-P, ISIS-EA remained organizationally fractured, largely isolated from the support of international terrorist networks, unable to expand its presence, but still capable of conducting sporadic deadly attacks. 
On April 17, approximately 40 ISIS-EA and Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) militants ambushed AFP soldiers near Patikul on the island of Jolo. The militants killed 12 AFP soldiers and wounded 13 in what the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) described as the deadliest incident involving ASG or ISIS-EA since the January 2019 suicide bombing of a cathedral in Jolo, which left 23 people dead and more than 100 wounded.37 According to media reports, the ambushed AFP unit was in pursuit of Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, an ISIS-EA leader and organizer of the 2019 cathedral bombing. An AFP spokesperson told reporters that while the military mourned the losses of April 17, it would continue e ort to capture or kill Sawadjaan. 
The DIA attributed the high number of AFP casualties in this incident to the fact that a large number of ISIS-EA and ASG fighters had “assumed advantageous positions” before launching the attack. A statement from the commander of the AFP’s Western Mindanao Command, Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, confirmed that the enemy controlled the higher ground during the clash. The DIA reported that of the 12 AFP soldiers who were killed, 3 were attacked with bladed weapons, probably machetes, and ISIS-EA fighters attempted to behead a fourth. The attackers seized AFP weapons and equipment during the engagement, including rifles, a grenade launcher, a light machine gun, and a handheld radio unit, according to the DIA. ISIS-EA later released footage on social media purportedly from the attack. However, the U.S. Embassy in Manila stated that it con rmed the footage released by ISIS-EA was older and not recorded in 2020.
Page 7
ISIS-EA, which consists mostly of Abu Sayyaf, remains fractured in the Philippines and in the region as a whole but can still pull off deadly attacks. One such attack occurred in April when AFP troops were ambushed. This report does not make any connections but if the AFP was ambushed that probably means the ASG knew they were coming. Who would have told them? Is this incident related to the PNP's murder of AFP intel officers in June? There is no mention of that incident in this report.
On June 26, Philippine security officials killed four suspected ISIS-EA militants in Parañaque, a city in Metro Manila (a densely populated urban area made up of several cities, including the capital). One officer was wounded when police raided a house where the suspects were staying. According to media sources, police and intelligence reporting connected the four suspects to a sleeper cell sent by Hatib Sawadjaan to Metro Manila.  
A media report identified one of the suspects as a finance and logistics facilitator who allegedly provided support for the 2019 Jolo cathedral bombing with funds received from an Indonesian terrorist  financier. 
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) previously reported that the group “remains connected to its historic operating areas of the southern Philippines, and it has not demonstrated a capability to operate elsewhere in the country.” USINDOPACOM added that it did not believe the activity in Metro Manila represented a shift in ISIS-EA tactics or strategy, saying that while ISIS-EA has supporters across the country, the group remains focused on operations in the south. 
Page 10-11
A sleeper cell sent to Manila was incapacitated by the Philippine security officials in June. USINDOPACOM does not believe that this sleeper cell represents a change in tactics as most of ISIS-EA's operations remain in the south. However the presence of this cell means they can penetrate to the north. Perhaps there are more cells.
Previous Lead IG reports have noted that a key goal of the MILF’s peace agreement with the Philippine government and the establishment of the BARMM is the phased decommissioning and disarming of the MILF’s 40,000 fighters. However, progress toward achieving this goal has been slow. 
The U.S. Embassy in Manila stated that the decommissioning process was facing problems even before COVID-19 and that it essentially had stalled since the pandemic began. The third phase of decommissioning, which requires former combatants to travel to Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao, was scheduled to begin on March 11 but it was suspended due to the pandemic and quarantine measures. Some MILF members who took part in the second phase were stranded at Camp Abubakar and unable to get back to their home provinces, according to the embassy. 
Since the decommissioning began, former militants have surrendered 2,100 weapons, which the government has destroyed, according to the Independent Decommissioning Body. However, embassy contacts reported that the destroyed weapons were mostly older and lower grade. The embassy reported that former combatants received cash grants of approximately $2,000 for taking part in the program. The embassy predicted that this process, which was already facing delays before the pandemic, would likely fail to meet the deadlines established in the peace agreement between the Philippine government and the MILF.
Page 11-12
The decommissioning of MILF fighters has stalled since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Some MILF fighters were left stranded at Camp Abubakar and were unable to return home once the lockdowns began. Scheduled deadlines will probably not be met in the decommission timetable.
This quarter, ISIS-EA claimed seven attacks in the Philippines through official ISIS-Core media channels, according to the DIA. Six of the attacks were individually claimed through ISIS-Core’s Amaq Media and one claim appeared in the weekly ISIS magazine, al-Naba. ISIS-Core media also claimed a June 1 attack on a police station in Indonesia. However, the claim did not positively link the attacker to ISIS-EA. The DIA stated that ISIS-Core provided multimedia support to ISIS-EA this quarter, which included publishing photos of ISIS-EA members celebrating Ramadan. 
The DIA stated that while the overall trend is towards better media support from ISIS-Core, the support provided this quarter does not represent a significant increase over previous quarters, either in terms of quantity or quality. USINDOPACOM added that while there were more ISIS-EA media claims this quarter, ISIS-EA likely exaggerates its claims. USINDOPACOM stated that it disputes the facts of ISIS-EA media claims.
Page 14
ISIS-EA is getting regular media attention from ISIS-Core, that's ISIS in the Middle East. They even get one mention in the weekly ISIS magazine, al-Naba. However USINDOPACOM says their claims are likely exaggerated.
The DIA assessed that ISIS-EA’s posture in the Philippines remained unchanged from previous quarters, with an estimated 300 to 500 members divided among several factions, including the ASG, the Esmael faction of the BIFF, the Maute Group, and Ansar Khalifah Philippines. According to the DIA, the ASG factions operate primarily on the islands of Basilan and Jolo, while the BIFF is most active in the provinces of Maguindanao and South Cotabato on Mindanao. The Maute Group retains a marginal presence in Lanao del Sur province, of which Marawi is the capital, according to the DIA. The DIA reported that the number of confrontations between ISIS-EA and the AFP was highest on Jolo this quarter. ISIS-EA has maintained a strong foothold in the Sulu archipelago and central Mindanao, but according to the DIA, the local population does not actively support ISIS, which makes it necessary for these  fighters to operate out of transient jungle encampments. 
According to the DIA, ISIS-Core stated its intent to spread its ideology to other Southeast Asian countries. While ISIS affiliates are now active in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, ISIS has not been successful in expanding ISIS-EA’s presence into a functional trans-Southeast Asian movement, despite vulnerable Muslim populations in Burma and Bangladesh. The DIA reported that while ISIS affiliates have conducted attacks in Indonesia, there was no evidence of a concerted coordination effort between ISIS-EA’s Indonesian and Philippine branches. The DIA added that Indonesian and Malaysian counterterrorism operations were largely successful in interrupting ISIS-EA’s plans and disrupting the  flow of foreign fighters into the Philippines. 
Page 15
There are about 300-500 members of ISIS-EA spread over a several groups. USINDOPACOM says they do not have support from the local population and are forced to operate out of jungle camps. ISIS has also been unable to expand ISIS-EA's presence to a functional Southeast Asian movement.
This quarter, U.S. intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) support to the AFP was negatively impacted by COVID-19 personnel restrictions, a transition between ISR contracts, and seasonal weather. Despite these factors, the AFP continued to leverage ISR provided by the U.S. in their operations, according to SOCPAC. The AFP also leveraged their own manned ISR and small unmanned aerial system (UAS) platforms to augment U.S. support to counterterrorism operations. SOCPAC reported that its advisors continued to provide advice on ISR and best practices for small UAS deployment, as the AFP plans to increase its own ISR capacity in the near future. 
SOCPAC reported that U.S. special operations personnel supporting OPE-P continued to conduct advise and assist efforts remotely. They were challenged in their ability to support the AFP’s activities fully due COVID-19 restrictions, and because the AFP shifted some resources to support virus quarantine efforts. U.S. advisors continued to share information with the AFP to develop target intelligence packages and provided ISR-related information in support of AFP operations against ISIS-EA. Sulu province, which includes the island of Jolo, remained the most active region for AFP operations this quarter, according to SOCPAC. 
SOCPAC assessed that the most severe restrictions on the movement of U.S. advisors and their coordination with the AFP will likely be relaxed next quarter, although social distancing requirements and reduced manpower may continue to impact operations. Additionally, SOCPAC assessed that in the coming quarter ISIS-EA will likely increase its attacks, regroup, recruit, and advance its messaging because of the Philippine government’s COVID-19 restrictions and the redirection of AFP assets away from counterterrorism efforts and toward pandemic response. As larger social gatherings slowly return, opportunities for terrorist attacks may increase, according to SOCPAC. 
Page 16
U.S. intel assistance to the AFP was hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic because of resources were shifted to support quarantine efforts. This quarter the AFP were able to use their own ISR platforms to augment US assistance. The US continues to offer advice as the AFP plans to expand their own ISR capacity in the future. 

ISIS-EA may increase attacks because the AFP has redirected much of its efforts to fight the pandemic. With the capture of Susukan the AFP is preparing for retaliation from ASG.

 https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/08/14/20/military-says-ready-for-abu-sayyaf-retaliation-after-leaders-arrest
The military said Friday it is ready to repel any retaliatory attack by the Abu Sayyaf Group after the arrest of its leader Anduljihad "Idang" Susukan. 
Susukan, who is facing at least 30 arrest warrants for murder and various crimes, went to Davao City this week for medical treatment. Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Misuari facilitated the terror leader’s surrender to authorities on Thursday. 
“Inaasahan nating itong mga tauhan niya ay made-demoralize sapagkat itong kanilang leader ay nahuli na nga natin,” military spokesman Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo told ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo. 
(We expect that his men will be demoralized because we have arrested their leader.) 
“At the same time, inaasahan din natin na maaari sila ay gaganti, subalit handa tayo, ang ating Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas na i-repel kung ano mang balak nilang gawin,” he said. 
(We also expect that the could retaliate, but we are ready, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to repel whatever they plan to do.)
Given ASG's jihadist doctrine they will likely see Susukan as a martyr and be encouraged to fight harder. Besides he is not top dog. Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan is the alleged de-facto leader and he is still out there.

Monday, August 17, 2020

The 25 Year Cycle of PhilHealth Corruption

This week the Senate has been holding hearings about alleged corruption within PhilHealth. Many things have come to light such as the existence of a "mafia" which has been stealing billions from the taxpayers. These mafiosi have even been named.

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/8/14/PhilHealth-mafia-members.html
A former official of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) on Wednesday bared the names of the members of the alleged “mafia” in the state health insurer. 
On the prodding of Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon during a Senate probe on purported anomalies in the agency, former PhilHealth board member Roberto Salvador named five regional vice presidents and a sacked regional vice president as alleged members of the supposed mafia: 
PhilHealth Vice President for Region IV-B Paolo Johann Perez
PhilHealth Vice President for Region VII William Chavez
PhilHealth Vice President for Region X Masiding Alonto Jr.
PhilHealth Vice President for Region XII Dennis Adre
PhilHealth Vice President for ARMM Khaliquzzaman Macabato
Former PhilHealth Vice President for Region XII Miriam Grace Pamonag 
Salvador also alleged that PhilHealth’s assistant corporate secretary, Valerie Hollero, and its legal officer, Jelbert Calicto, are part of the group, dubbed as the “Mindanao bloc.”
PhilHealth President Morales vowed before the Senate that he would dismantle this mafia.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/26/19/philhealth-chief-vows-to-dismantle-mafia
The head of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation vowed Monday to "dismantle" the alleged "mafia" within the state-run health insurance firm. 
PhilHealth President Ricardo Morales said executives tagged as "mafia" members have already been reshuffled and an internal investigation is also underway. 
"If there is a mafia, I will dismantle that mafia. That is one of my initiatives," Morales told ANC's Headstart.
If you haven't noticed both of those articles are from last year!

What is happening in the Senate now is a repetition of an unending cycle of allegations, investigations, suspensions, everyone forgetting as time passes, and business as usual stealing billions in PhilHealth. Contrary to Morales' vow to dismantle the PhilHealth mafia every person named is STILL listed as an Executive Officer on PhilHealth's website. The mafia was never dismantled and a year later we read the following:

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1320271/morales-tags-2-mindanao-philhealth-execs-having-inordinate-influence-within-agency-i-cant-move-them
The two executives have “inordinate influence” and “dictate” how the agency is run, according to Morales. 
Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked Morales if he could identify the officials 
“At least two ma’am: Alonto and Macabato because I could not move them,” Morales said.
Is there a mafia or not? Who is in it? How are they able to continue to defraud the nation? Those are questions I am not going to answer. It appears not even those making the accusations can give a definite answer.

Obviously there is corruption happening within PhilHealth and it has been this way since 1995 when PhilHealth was founded. Those perpetrating the corruption are not just insiders but also doctors and hospitals. From 2011 we read:

https://web.archive.org/web/20111016070511/http://asiancorrespondent.com/55816/bogus-claims-haunt-philhealth/
For many years you’ve been paying your Philhealth dues, and so has your company. But that money may have been misused to finance bankrupt hospitals and fatten doctors’ salaries. 
As early as four years ago, a scandal hit the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., which confirmed allegations that some private hospitals and doctors have been defrauding the state-run health insurer. 
In her testimony before a 2007 congressional hearing, Dr. Madeleine Valera, Philhealth vice president for health finance policy, said that since 1995, Philhealth had lost as much as P4 billion due to fraudulent claims. 
The anecdotes behind these claims are both tragic and true. In Iloilo, one eye doctor claimed to have performed 2, 071 eye surgeries in one year, for a total of P16 million in professional fees that he collected from Philhealth in 2006. When a Philhealth inspection team visited a hospital in Davao City, it caught janitors in hospital beds pretending to be Philhealth-accredited patients. 
Today, various estimates show that Philhealth is still losing up to P500 million annually due to bogus claims. This amount can already cover additional 500,000 indigent families under a sponsored program scheme. 
The continued abuse of the funds is also behind the limited coverage for new entrants to the labor force, since a new employee will have to contribute for at least nine months within the year of confinement before he or she could be entitled to benefits. 
The problem persists because of government’s failure to prosecute any of the players involved in the scam.
While some hospitals, such as the Our Lady of Mercy Specialty Hospital in Bacolod and the General Santos Doctors Hospital in General Santos City, had been fined or suspended, the truth is no one has been jailed for the crime. Weighed down by manpower problems and lack of political will, Philhealth could only implement stop-gap measures to stop the bleeding, such as random inspections and a stricter evaluation of claims.
Lack of political will and only implementing stop-gap measures to stop the bleeding rather then aggressive prosecuting those who commit fraud. Why not? Could it be because some PhilHealth executives are colluding with doctors and hospitals to commit fraud? The DOJ says that is exactly the case.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1322072/2-resource-persons-reveal-fraudulent-schemes-inside-philhealth-by-its-employees-in-collusion-with-doctors-banks
“The individuals (who requested anonymity) informed the Task Force of the different fraudulent schemes allegedly employed through the years by PhilHealth officers and employees, both at its main office and regional offices, in collusion with some doctors and hospitals, and even banks which act as remittance centers,” DOJ Undersecretary and spokesman Markk Perete said in a statement on Saturday. 
Such schemes include the payment of false or fraudulent claims against PhilHealth, the malversation of premiums, as well as the exploitation of “some unscrupulous personalities” of the case rate system and the interim reimbursement mechanism, among others. 
The resource persons, Perete added, also exposed the “abuses and flaws” in PhilHealth’s legal department and information technology (IT) office which allegedly made the proliferation of the schemes possible.
Enter Duterte in 2016 and his strong political will.  Surely he will not allow corruption to flourish within PhilHealth. So said former PhilHealth President Roy Ferrer.

https://www.philhealth.gov.ph/news/2019/no_mafia.php#gsc.tab=0
"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. 
"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.
This statement reads like a bad joke in the light of all the corruption which continues to come to light. Roy Ferrer himself was accused of corruption and forced to resign in order to give PhilHealth a clean slate and new start!

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1071990
He said that although Duterte still believes in the integrity of PhilHealth Acting President and Chief Executive Officer Roy Ferrer and members of the Board, he felt that their resignation would give the state-run social health insurance firm a clean slate. 
“While the Chief Executive reiterated his trust to - and has no doubt about - the integrity of PhilHealth Acting President and CEO Dr. Roy Ferrer, as well as the members of the board, he however demanded for their courtesy resignation in order for the corporation to have a clean slate absent any taint of irregularity in rendering services as well as implementing pertinent policies on health, including the Universal Health Care Act,” Panelo said in a statement.
Funny that Duterte demanded Ferrer's resignation while all the executives named as part of the mafia remain in their positions at PhilHealth. Also funny that Ferrer, along with several others tagged in the WellMed dialysis center scandal, are back in their positions of power as if nothing happened. Ferrer was appointed as Assistant Secretary of the DOH.

http://archive.is/KwFKR
The former acting President of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as one of the assistant secretaries of the Department of Health (DOH). 
Roy Ferrer was included in the list of presidential appointees released on Monday. 
He, along with other PhilHealth board members, was asked by Duterte to submit his courtesy resignation in June 2019, in the wake of alleged fraudulent insurance claims involving nonexistent kidney treatments. 
Ferrer was asked to resign due to command responsibility. Duterte, however, vouched for his integrity and honesty.
Four others who were charged in the scam but not forced to resign were recently given promotions.

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/319717/4-officials-tagged-in-alleged-philhealth-scam-get-promotion
At least four officials of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) were promoted less than a year after being implicated in the WellMed dialysis scam, according to a document obtained by the Inquirer on Friday. 
Based on PhilHealth Corporate Memorandum No. 2020-0037, Cheryl Peña, Dr. Rizza Majella Herrera, Dr. Bernadette Lico and lawyer Recto Panti were promoted to department manager III on May 18. Their promotion, along with four other officials, was approved by the state insurance firm’s board of directors on May 14.
All this is to say that the cycle continues at PhilHealth. Allegations, charges, nothing. And that is how it has been for 25 years!  Again from 2011:

https://web.archive.org/web/20111009083140/http://asiancorrespondent.com/55886/philippines-how-to-cure-philhealth’s-woes/
Philhealth officials in Region 12 said their conviction rate in administrative complaints has been minimal compared to the volume of cases that they have investigated. Not a single criminal case has been filed against any health care provider in the region or any of the doctors involved in fraudulent claims. 
Connections with the powerful, lack of witnesses, safety concerns, and conniving Philhealth officers—all these contribute to the continued plundering of Philhealth. 
Philhealth officials in Region 12 said their conviction rate in administrative complaints has been minimal compared to the volume of cases that they have investigated. Not a single criminal case has been filed against any health care provider in the region or any of the doctors involved in fraudulent claims.
That article goes more in depth into some of the problems within PhilHealth. The corruption runs deep and there are many and various reasons. From political intervention to lack of manpower there are many things wrong with PhilHealth and contrary to the PACC six months will not be enough to fix 25 years of corruption.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1320572/only-6-months-needed-to-rid-philhealth-of-corruption-pacc-commissioner
(That is possible. I don’t believe it cannot be done in six months. You put the right system, the right people, and do the right thing, in six months it will be improved.) 
Belgica reiterated that some government and private institutions have been offering their information technology solutions to PhilHealth for free, even as PhilHealth seeks a proposed P2.1-billion IT project to stem fraud and scams devised by some corrupt personnel. 
(They should use the IT solutions being offered for free and the IT system will be cleansed. There will be a validation mechanism, and there will be no upcasing, fake documents, and fake claims. In six months, they can fix that at no expense.) 
The anti-corruption official made this remark after PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Ricardo Morales admitted during a Senate hearing Tuesday that “fraud has always been in the system as it has always been in all similar health systems in the world.” 
Morales added that the problem in PhilHealth can take at least three years to solve.
Six months, three years, new IT system, fire all the corrupt executives, it all seems so simple but it's not. At this late date PhilHealth is an unwieldily monster. It is out of control. And this is the bureaucracy tasked with implementing universal healthcare!

Strangely enough some actually put faith in the government to investigate this mess. As if their investigations will bear any fruit and end in prosecutions and jail time.

https://twitter.com/iskonglasalista/status/1293141697111527424
Joke's on this guy! The cycle of corruption at PhilHealth will continue. How many government bodies need to be investigating PhilHealth anyway?