A YouTube video has revived a claim that a court sentenced Sen. Risa Hontiveros for her involvement in the illegal issuance of bonuses by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth). This is not true.
The senator was never part of any case related to the PhilHealth bonus controversy and her participation in the issue has been repeatedly debunked since 2018.
Uploaded on June 15, the video bore the headline:
“KAKAPASOK LANG Grabe to! Philhealth ni H0ntiver0s Hinat0lan ng K0rte Marcoleta Sonza hawak Ebidensya (Just in! This is harsh! Hontiveros’ PhilHealth was sentenced by the court. Marcoleta and Sonza hold the evidence).
Its thumbnail which bore a photo of Hontiveros along with other personalities, carried a text that read: “HATUL NG KORTE 100% KRIMINAL ACT GINAWA NILA (The court’s verdict, what they did was 100% a criminal act)!
Meanwhile, the anonymous voice over also said at the video’s 1:44 mark: “Korte nagbigay linaw na na illegal diumano ang mga ginawa ni Sen. Risa Hontiveros noong direktor pa ito ng nasabing ahensya (The court has clarified that what Sen. Risa Hontiveros did when she was director of PhilHealth was illegal).”
Hontiveros was never a respondent nor was her name mentioned in any of the three Supreme Court decisions related to PhilHealth’s illegal disbursement of employee bonuses in 2009, 2010 and 2014.
PhilHealth corporate communications head Rey Baleña told VERA Files in 2018 that the senator was not among PhilHealth executives ordered by the Commission on Audit (COA) to return a total of P163.85 million in unauthorized bonuses released in the said years.
Hontiveros’ camp has also denied her involvement in the mess saying that “the bonuses were approved before [her] term as member of the PhilHealth’s board.” The senator sat on the board of the state health insurance agency from November 2014 to October 2015.
The erroneous clip did not present proof to support its claim but only featured a previously fact-checked vlogger who criticized authorities for pursuing the arrest of fugitive televangelist Apollo Quiboloy as well as the government’s handling of illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).
Hontiveros previously led a Senate investigation into alleged sexual abuses committed by Quiboloy among members of his Kingdom of Jesus Christ sect. She is also conducting a probe into the alleged involvement of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo in illegal POGO operations.
The video emerged days after the High Court made public its decision affirming a COA notice that disallowed PhilHealth’s release of bonuses worth P43.81 million in 2010.