Panayam kay Dr. Israel Francis Pargas, Senior VP for Health Finance Policy Sector & Spokesperson, PhilHealth (September 25, 2023) | UB
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Transcript
00:00 We will talk about the hacking of PhilHealth. We will talk to Dr. Israel Francis Parga, Senior Vice President for Health Finance Policy Sector and PhilHealth's spokesperson. Good morning doc.
00:14 Good morning. Good morning to all of us.
00:17 Until now, PhilHealth's system is still temporarily shut down. Can you tell us how widely this hacking is affecting?
00:25 Yes. Until now, we are still working on ways to upgrade our system to return to normal operation.
00:38 In our initial assessment, we were able to find out that around 72 stations were affected, particularly here in the head office and in our NCR offices.
00:51 But none of our regional offices were affected. Our website, our member portal, and our e-claims are all affected.
01:03 That's why our front line transactions are being done manually.
01:08 What is the effect of this? If it's manual, does it mean it's slower and slower? How will this affect our members?
01:18 Because it's manual, it's slower. Our members were given instructions on how to continue to get their benefits from the PhilHealth they need.
01:32 For example, they need to bring a copy of their ID or member data record to the hospital if they need to get benefits.
01:43 Unlike before, this can only be checked in the system. But since our system is still down, they need to bring these documents.
01:55 The important thing is that PhilHealth members can continue to use their benefits. Is that right?
02:01 Yes. That's right. For example, those who need to pay premium contribution, they need to go for over-the-counter payment first.
02:11 They cannot use the system.
02:14 We cannot say when we will be able to return our system?
02:20 As soon as possible time. This is what we are doing. Actually, by this day, we will be testing our system.
02:30 Maybe within the day, we will have some systems that can be returned to their normal operation.
02:37 As of now, we know that the information of the members may have been compromised. Is the PhilHealth fund affected by this hacking?
02:45 In our initial assessment, there is no leak with regard to personal information or medical information. There was no compromise.
02:55 But what about the PhilHealth fund?
02:57 There will be no problem. It was not affected and we can continue to use it for the benefit of our members.
03:06 The Medusa Ransomware Group, the group behind the hacking, gave a 10-day notice and they will pay 300,000 U.S. dollars
03:16 so they will not leak other information of the PhilHealth members. What is the PhilHealth's position on this?
03:20 To be honest, we are not accepting any...
03:26 Ransom demand.
03:28 Yes. We are not accepting any ransom demand amounting to 300,000.
03:35 Actually, we are still investigating with other government agencies as to what is the reason behind this information security incident.
03:47 Sorry. Where did the information that is asking for 300,000 U.S. dollars come from?
03:52 Actually, we don't know. We saw a news report. But to be honest, nothing is happening and there is no demand for us.
04:02 So there is no condition. It means we are working to get our control back to the system, but there's no communication coming from the hackers to PhilHealth.
04:12 There is none. We are not involved in this as I mentioned.
04:17 In investigating the DICT, the National Privacy Commission, the forensic offices and cybercrime units of the NBI and PNP are also involved.
04:27 Okay. Thank you very much Dr. Israel Francis Pargas, the spokesperson of PhilHealth. We will continue to keep you updated on this. Thank you sir.
04:37 Thank you. Thank you. Good morning everyone.
04:40 (In Tagalog)
04:53 (Music)