Duque: DOH transferred funds to DBM-PS out of 'desperation'

The Department of Health (DOH) transferred billions of pesos to the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service (DBM-PS) in a desperate bid to obtain medical supplies, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Thursday.

Senators have been questioning the transfer of P42 billion DOH funds to the DBM-PS after the COA flagged the alleged overpriced procurement of the medical items.

“You see kami, we downloaded the funds to the PS-DBM because we were desperate. We have none: face masks, PPEs, to say the least, wala,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on ANC.

Duque said supplies ran low after the January 2020 eruption of the Taal Volcano, when the agency distributed face masks to affected communities.

He added the agency’s manpower had also been stretched too thinly by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as ongoing programs.

“Meron kaming budget for TB, meron kaming budget for HIV, for family planning, lahat ‘yan ginagawa pa rin nila ‘yan. So kung tatambakan mo pa kami ng panibagong procurement demands, mahirap,” he said.

“Ang daming na-isolate, na-quarantine, na-ospital, ‘yung isa namatay pa. Talagang ang nipis-nipis namin. Kulang na kulang kami. Sa PS-DBM, that’s their mandate by law,” he later added.

Duque pointed out that the agency did not get involved with the procurement as it was not their mandate.

“The standing in the law that says the DOH should oversee the process of the PS-DBM, that’s their mandate, sila ‘yun. They are part of DBM, and I trusted them. If I cannot trust the PS-DBM, who will I trust?” he said.

Questions in hearings normal, relevant

Amid President Rodrigo Duterte’s remarks that senators have been treating witnesses unfairly amid their investigation into the alleged corruption in the procurement of the medical items, Duque said the questions asked of him were normal and relevant.

“In so far as I’m concerned, the questions that were asked of me, I answered them. The questions were normal, I think the questions were relevant and to the point. I answered to the best of my knowledge,” he said.

Duque said he had attended all hearings of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee aside from the hearing held on October 5, when Duterte officially ordered members of the executive department to stop attending the hearings.

The president has been urged to allow the Senate to proceed with its investigation. —LBG, GMA News