Retired Army Gen. Ricardo Morales is set to take over the leadership of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

This was announced by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, adding Morales has been appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte

Morales was earlier named administrator of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewage System ( MWSS). But Duterte replaced him with retiring Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Salamat on Monday.

This was confirmed by PhilHealth Spokesperson Shirley Domingo, who said Morales visited their office Thursday.

"He met and talked with our officers," said Domingo in an interview. She did not give details.

Morales admitted that he has no appointment papers yet, said Domingo.

Repeated calls and messages to Duque to confirm his earlier announcement weren't answered.

Duque said he will remain as ex-officio chair of PhilHealth despite repeated calls from Senator Panfilo Lacson Jr for him to resign.

In a separate phone interview, Duque said he is not inclined to resign from his post at PhilHealth since he has to follow Duterte's orders to cleanse the agency.

"President Duterte already asked certain PhilHealth officials to submit their courtesy resignation, but not all. That (Duque resigning) is his (Lacson) opinion and he is entitled to it," said Duque.

"(But) I have my marching orders from President Duterte, who is my appointing authority, to help fix the problem at PhilHealth. That is what I intend to do," he added.

Duterte ordered the resignation of top PhilHealth officials regarding the fraudulent claims involving deceased dialysis patients of WellMed Dialysis Center and Laboratory Corp. DMS