Lacson slams Duque for ‘hubris’

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Thursday called out Health Secretary Francisco Duque III for "hubris" and accused him of lacking knowledge about the Department of Health’s (DOH) supply chain system.

In a statement, Lacson recalled the Commission on Appointments’ deliberation on Duque’s appointment, when he asked the Health chief about the DOH’s supply chain issues and his plans to address these.

“He could not answer my questions satisfactorily, if at all. Am I surprised that he did not even bother to research in spite of his obvious lack of knowledge on the importance of the supply chain in his department?” Lacson asked.

“What gives? It's hubris. He only cares about his boss, the President who, for reasons only they probably know cannot and will not remove him from office in spite of repeated calls from the majority of senators and other sectors,” he added.

Lacson said the Commission on Audit’s findings—which flagged the DOH over deficiencies in the utilization of P67 billion in funds—only show that Duque “doesn’t care about the health concerns of the people who he is supposed to serve.”

In a separate statement, Senator Risa Hontiveros said that the COA findings are indications of the government’s failure and negligence in addressing the pandemic.

“We have always known that someone dropped the ball, and now, with the recent COA findings, we know exactly by how much,” she said.

“Matagal na akong at laging nanawagan ng special audit ng lahat ng pondong ginamit at hindi nagamit para sa COVID-19 pandemic response,” she added.

(I’ve repeatedly called for a special audit on all the funds that were and were not used for the COVID-19 pandemic response.)

She said the DOH appears to be "depriving" thousands of Filipinos of healthcare services amid a national emergency and it is “nothing short of a criminal.”

Hontiveros asked the DOH to comply with the COA audit observation and accounting.

“In the midst of a crisis, we need commitment and competence from the DOH leadership to ensure every peso budgeted and allocated would saves lives,” she said.

In its 2020 annual audit report, the COA flagged several deficiencies on DOH’s use of P67.32 billion in COVID-19 funds.

The state auditors said the deficiencies were mainly caused by non-compliance with laws, rules, and regulations.

Duque, through the DOH Administration and Financial Management Team, agreed to implement most of COA’s recommendations specified under the 2020 annual audit report

Senator Francis Pangilinan said the audit report simply confirms Senate’s conclusion that there is incompetence and corruption in the DOH.

Lacson previously said that the history of irregularities in the department only shows its incompetence.

In April 2020, 14 senators filed a resolution calling for Duque’s resignation "for his failure of leadership, negligence, lack of foresight, and inefficiency in the performance of his mandate.”

However, Malacañang disregarded the senators' call and retained Duque as the Health secretary.

Earlier today, Duque defended himself anew from critics who revived the calls for him to resign, saying his track record would show his good service in the government. — BM, GMA News