Gatchalian says Gordon should keep Red Cross post, seeks abolition of PITC, DBM-PS

Senator Richard Gordon should stay on as chairperson of the Philippine Red Cross because the former serves his post with competence, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said Tuesday.

Gatchalian was responding to a query as to whether Gordon should step down as Red Cross chair while he leads the Senate probe into the government's purchase of pandemic supplies as chairperson of the Senate blue ribbon committee.

"I am also one of the Board of Governors of the Red Cross, and we [including Senator Gordon] are duly elected by Red Cross. I don't see why he should step down because firstly, the Red Cross shouldered 90% of our COVID-19 testing capacity when everything about the pandemic is still new," Gatchalian said during the Laging Handa public briefing.

"I did not even think the Red Cross can do it, but they did, and we have to give credit to where it is due in terms of increasing our testing capacity," he added. 

As to the ongoing Senate probe, Gatchalian said agencies such as Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) and Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service (DBM-PS) should be abolished because they failed to spend government funds they receive appropriately. 

Gatchalian said this move is urgent, given the government's P8 billion worth of pandemic supply purchases from small firm Pharmally by DBM-PS. He also cited the Commission on Audit's findings that government agencies transferred funds to PITC and DBM-PS which ended up unspent or used for procurement but the items would go undelivered. 

"PITC and DBM-PS should be abolished because government agencies transfer funds to these entities so agencies would not have a low utilization of funds so they would look clean," he pointed out.

The senator also cited that PITC failed in its mandate since the Bureau of Fire Protection also transferred funds to it for procurement but the said money were unspent. Many municipalities do not have fire trucks and fire stations to begin with, he said.

"This transferring of funds to PITC and DBM-PS has become a bad habit," Gatchalian added.

Likewise, Gatchalian said the Senate probe into pandemic supply purchases should continue.

"Our constituents have to know that the government is spending our resources appropriately," he said.

"Giving billions of government contracts to companies with no track record, without an office, is suspicious. We need to know the truth and the loopholes,"
he added.

Gatchalian was referring to Pharmally, which was only founded in September last year. 

Malacañang has maintained that Pharmally purchases complied with emergency procurement guidelines provided under existing laws. The products were also of high quality and were delivered on time, the Palace added. —KG, GMA News