Duterte orders Calida to ask COA to audit Red Cross

President Rodrigo Duterte has directed Solicitor General Jose Calida to formally request the Commission on Audit (COA) to scrutinize the financial records of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC).

In a taped address aired on Thursday, Duterte said he prefers that an audit be conducted “immediately.”

“The next step would really be the letter to be delivered to the COA by Solicitor General Calida regarding my request to audit the Red Cross,” he said.

Malacañang earlier said government funds paid to the PRC for the conduct of COVID-19 tests is subject to COA audit.

The PRC is headed by Senator Richard Gordon, chairperson of the Senate blue ribbon committee, which is investigating allegations of overpricing in the procurement of medical supplies such as face masks and personal protective equipment (PPEs) last year.

Duterte has repeatedly denied that there was overpricing and criticized Gordon’s handling of the inquiry. He even called the senator a “despot.”

“Susmaryosep Gordon hindi mo ako matakot not in a million years. Hindi ako kawatan kagaya mo. Wala akong Red Cross na ginagatasan araw-araw. It’s not my style,” the President said.

(My goodness, Gordon, you cannot scare me, not in a million years. I am not a thief like you. I don’t have a Red Cross which you turned into a milking cow. It’s not my style.)

In a statement on September 3, the PRC board of governors said the humanitarian organization does not receive appropriations from the government and it only receives donations from private individuals, corporations, and partner international Red Cross and Red Crescent societies.

It said that some government agencies such as the Department of Health, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, had donated to the PRC but these are “small part” of PRC funds and were properly liquidated.

“Being that the PRC is not a government agency, it is not subject to audit by the Commission on Audit,” it said.

The PRC, however, is required to submit to the Office of the President an annual report containing its activities and showing its financial condition, according to the Philippine Red Cross Act of 2009.

COA chairperson Michael Aguinaldo earlier told a House inquiry that they have no jurisdiction over the PRC, but they could examine government payments to the non-government entity.  — RSJ, GMA News