SENATOR Panfilo M. Lacson flagged a possible “conflict of interest” on the part of Health Secretary Francisco H. Duque III after the senator learned that a PhilHeath office in Region 1 is established in a building owned by the Secretary. “I found out that the Regional Office 1 of PhilHealth is housed in a building. I have here a copy of the contract of lease, owned by Secretary Duque,” Mr. Lacson said in a briefing, Wednesday. Mr. Duque, in response, said, “They were planning to move to a permanent site in Calasiao pero nag-botch, hindi natuloy ‘yung kanilang transaction na dapat bibilhin nila. (but the transaction did not push through). They started asking for renewal of contract kasi wala din silang mapupuntahan (because they had nowhere to go),” he told BusinessWorld over a phone interview, Wednesday. Mr. Duque said he was not a signatory in the renewal of contract. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

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