Gordon to Go: Duterte gov’t asked for Red Cross hand in COVID-19 testing

It was the Duterte administration which approached the Philippine Red Cross to ask for help in ramping up the country’s COVID-19 testing during early days of the pandemic, Senator Richard Gordon said on Tuesday.

Gordon made the remark after President Rodrigo Duterte's former special aide Senator Bong Go questioned the “multi-million” memorandum of agreement that the  Red Cross and entered with the government. 

“Alam niyo hindi ako ang lumapit sa gobyerno, ang gobyerno ang lumapit sa amin,” Gordon said.

[You know what, it is not us who approached the government, it is the government that asked for our help.]

“Sabi, 'Kayo ang may solusyon, may makina kayo, sa amin niyo ipapasa, kami na ang magpapasa sa inyo'," he added.

"Hindi po ako humingi ng kontrata, pinagawa kami ng kontrata at hindi ako pumirma don dahil kako dapat talagang ayusin yan [ng gobyerno] so wala ako problema dyan,” Gordon said.

[They said, the PRC has the solution, the machine, and we will pass the task to you. I did not ask for a contract. We are told to come up with a contract and I did not sigh it because I believe that this matter should be fixed by the government. So I don’t have the problem with it.]

He said Secretaries Francisco Duque III, Delfin Lorenzana, and Karlo Nograles as the government representatives who approached the PRC.

Gordon agreed that the matter should be referred to the Senate Blue Ribbon committee.

“Mr. President dapat dalhin natin ito sa committee na dapat pagdalhan, ‘yung sinasabi niyang panay personal,” Gordon ended.

[Mr. President, we should really bring this to the committee, which he claimed to be all about personal matters.]

In a privilege speech, Go raised Gordon’s affiliation with the Philippine Red Cross.

He mentioned the multi-million memorandum of agreement that the PRC entered into with PhilHealth during the onset of the pandemic last year.

“In the spirit of fairness and impartiality, shouldn’t the Blue Ribbon Committee chair inhibit himself on further hearing or matters involving PhilHealth? Make no mistake, I will not present conclusions here without due process and fairness,” he added.

“Hindi ba may conflict of interest na isa sa pinapaimbestigahan mo ay katransaksyon ng organisasyon na pinamumunuan mo? Nagtatanong lang po ako,” Go asked.

(Isn't there conflict of interest when one of the agencies you were investigating has a transaction with Philippine Red Cross? Just asking.)

Gordon, as chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, has been demanding payments from PhilHealth for the COVID-19 tests that the humanitarian organization have conducted.

Go claimed that he has received reprimand from Gordon when he was asking for help to expedite the release of PhilHealth payments to PRC.

“Pinapagalitan mo, pati ako nadadamay, tinatawagan mo bakit hindi nababayaran. Ako kasamahan ko sa gobyerno, papagalitan mo kami. Ano namang kinalaman ko? Tulay lang po ako, kung maaari naging tulay lang po ako sa Executive para mapabilis po ang lahat ng proseso,” he said. --NB, GMA News