Senators quiz Duque over ‘double payment’ of face shields

Did the Department of Health (DOH) buy from the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) face shields that it already paid for?

Senator on Tuesday grilled Health Secretary Francisco Duque III for explanation as to why the department has to pay the PS-DBM for face shields at P124 per piece when in 2020, it transferred P42 billion to the latter for procurement of COVID-19 supplies.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senator Panfilo Lacson pointed this out during the Senate’s continuation of its investigation on the DOH's use of pandemic funds.

On Drilon's inquiry, Health Undersecretary Carol Taiño confirmed that the DOH has procured face shields from DBM-PS at P124 pesos.

However, she said she did not know where the funds for the procurement were sourced.

Drilon pointed out that the face shields bought by the DOH should be part of the P42 billion transferred funds and should be considered as DOH’s properties.

“Why did you purchase face shield from DBM-PS and why there is an SRP?” Drilon asked Duque.

Lacson followed Drilon’s questioning, emphasizing that there was a “double payment” on the part of the DOH.

“To summarize the point of Senator Drilon, ‘di ba double payment ‘yan? Nag-transfer ka ng pera tapos bibili ka uli e sariling pera mo ginagamit. It is a case of double payment,” Lacson said.

(Isn’t that double payment? You transferred the money then you will buy the items which were bought using the same money that were transferred to DBM-PS.  It is a case of double payment.)

Duque cannot give a definite explanation on the concern raised by the senators, saying the documents can justify the DOH’s procurement of face shields.

“Mr. Chairman, I’m sorry, but I have no information of the same, that we purchased this,” Duque said.

Drilon continued to scrutinize Duque over the face shield procurement from DBM-PS, noting that the DOH had bought these with a four-peso profit.

“By your own declaration, DOH simply asked PS-DBM to purchase for the DOH and yet when the PS-DBM moved back the merchandise to the DOH, the DOH paid four pesos more than the 120 pesos na galing din sa DOH budget,” Drilon said.

“Doesn’t that bother you… It was sold to you at P124 gamit ang pera ng DOH, pinagtubuan. Ito talaga ang tubong lugaw…," he added.

Duque replied: “What I understand is, the budget that was used to purchase these common supplies and equipment is separate from the money utilized to purchase the face shields,” Duque said.

Drilon, however, was not convinced, saying the budget for PS-DBM for 2020 was not as high as P42 billion to procure the medical supplies.

“‘Di mo pwedeng sabihin na budget ng DBM-PS. Budget yan ng DOH,” he said.

Duque disagreed with Drilon but asked the senator to give him a “little more time to verify” the information.

Drilon replied: “This must be explained, ‘pag hindi may sabit po kayo (if not, then you may face consequences.)

In its 2020 annual audit report, COA flagged the PS-DBM for its lack of a clear policy on handling inventories of COVID-19 supplies, including face masks and face shields.

The COA said PS-DBM  bought 1.32 million pieces of face shields at P120 each.

In the same hearing, COA chairman Michael Aguinaldo said a memorandum of agreement is needed if the PS-DBM will act as a procuring agent on behalf of DOH.

If an agency buys certain items listed in the PS-DBM inventories, the COA chief said a MOA is no longer needed.—LDF, GMA News