Senators grill DOH, DBM over overpriced face masks, shields

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Senator Imee Marcos put Health and Budget officials  through the wringer over the highly-priced face masks and face shields flagged by the Commission on Audit in its 2020 annual audit report.

During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing Wednesday, Marcos questioned why the Department of Health (DOH) suddenly transferred the P42.4 billion worth of procurement to the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service (DBM-PS) even though she claimed that the Health officials are still capable of holding several procurement biddings.

The senator mentioned the COA report, which showed that the DBM-PS had procured face masks at P27.22 each and face shields priced at P120 each.

“Masyado naman atang specialized ang DBM-PS at itong ni-require ninyo na napakamamahal sabihin na natin na very tight ang supply at that point, pero saksakan naman ata ng overpriced,” she said.

(It seems like the DBM-PS has specialized on this that's why they required these very expensive items. Even if we say that the supply was tight at that point, these items were still overpriced.)

DOH's procurement director Paul Guimbarda explained that the suggested retail price for these items were “not yet valid” and they had looked at the “reasonable price existing at that time.”

Drilon followed Marcos interpellation, telling Guimbarda that it is “obvious” that there was an “overpricing” in the procurement of these COVID-19 supplies.

“Noong nagkaroon na ng enough supply siguro, noong September 30, DOH released a memorandum, providing suggested retail prices for these items. P2 to P4 per piece of face mask and P26 to P50 per piece of face shield, if you compare this to your statement na mataas dahilan na bago pa lang noon (ang items). Ang laki naman po ng deperensya. Ang laki ng overpricing,” he pointed out.

(When we had enough supply around September 30, the DOH released a memorandum, providing suggested retail prices for these items. P2 to P4 per piece of face mask and P26 to P50 per piece of face shield, if you compare this to your statement that the prices were high because it was new in the market. Still, the price difference is still huge. The overpricing is noticeable.)

“Sino ba po ang head ng PS-DBM nung panahon noon?” the minority leader asked.

(Who was the head of PS-DBM back then?)

DBM officer-in-charge Tina Rose Canda said it was former Budget Undersecretary Christopher Lloyd Lao.

Lao has resigned from his post two months ago, Canda said.

“Under po yan, noong time ho na yun, ni Usec. Lao. I think it was already a subject of a previous investigation. I’m not aware of what happened,” Canda said.

(It was under Usec. Lao. I think it was already a subject of a previous investigation. I’m not aware of what happened.)

Canda disclosed that all of the supplies of face shields and face masks were from China.

She also recalled a meeting held by the DBM on the COVID-19 supplies procurement.

“The executive committee asked the question on whether the amounts for the face shields, face masks and other PPE would be defensible because some people from the private sector are saying that it’s expensive,” Canda narrated.

“And he (Lao) said at that point that because there were limited items in the local market, the amounts he presented was defensible. So I left it at that, I did not ask more questions,” she added.

At this point, Drilon asked the official to provide the last known address of Lao so that the Senate panel can invite him, if necessary, in the next hearings.

Senator Richard Gordon, head of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, said he was “astounded” by the reported prices of face shields and face masks.

In the Philippine Red Cross, Gordon said they buy their face shields at P15 each and their masks at below P5.

“We purchased ours from the very beginning, we got it at a low rate,” he told the panel.

Gordon then requested Canda to provide all the transactions entered into by Lao during his stint as head of the DBM-PS.

Lao previously applied for the Overall Deputy Ombudsman position but had withdrawn his application to avoid “senseless” speculations.

This is not the first time the DBM-PS was linked to allegations of overpricing.

In May 2020, Senator Panfilo Lacson quizzed the DOH and the DBM-PS over their procurement of an expensive laboratory equipment necessary for COVID-19 testing when there is a different brand used by the private sector which is available at a lower price.

In September 2020, Senator Risa Hontiveros also claimed that the DBM-PS bought overpriced China-made personal protective equipment (PPE).—LDF, GMA News