FORMER Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday said former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte directed the controversial transfer of P47.6 billion from the Department of Health (DOH) to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) for the purchase of COVID-19 supplies in 2020.
Duque made the statement during the ongoing oversight hearing of the House Committee on Appropriations, which is reviewing the budget performance of the DOH and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
During the hearing presided over by House appropriations panel vice chair and Marikina City Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo, ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro questioned Duque about the transfer’s origin.
“Sinasabi sa atin ni Secretary Duque sa utos ni dating Presidente Duterte ay nagkaroon ng ganito na transfer ng P47.6B, tama po ba?” asked Castro.
Duque responded, “Publicly this was made by the President in our meetings in the weekly meeting or talk to the people.”
Castro reiterated for clarity, “So clear po ‘yan, P47.6 billion to be transferred to PS-DBM, publicly announced by the former President Duterte na ma-transfer ‘yan.”
The Office of the Ombudsman has recently ordered the filing of graft charges against Duque and former DBM Undersecretary Christopher Lao over what it regarded as “irregular transfer” of DOH funds to PS-DBM for the procurement of COVID-19 supplies.
The anti-graft body also found Duque and Lao guilty of grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the service.
During the House hearing, Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin further inquired about the official instructions behind the fund transfer.
“So I think Hon. Castro, the answer of Secretary Duque was in a public address of the President, of the former President. ‘Yun naman medyo nagugulat ako, Madam Chair, because officially there are actually official notices or instructions,” Garin, who once served as DOH Secretary, said.
“So was there any instruction, Madam Chair, or who instructed Secretary Duque to initiate the P47.6 billion transfer? It can be answered by the name of the authority who instructed him or the name of the committee or I do not know. So ganoon lang, Madam Chair, if Secretary Duque can respond.”
Duque maintained his position, asserting his authority in the matter.
“Madam Chairperson, it is within my authority to effect the fund transfer. I do not deny that.”
However, Garin insisted on clarity, pressing Duque on whether the decision was unilateral. “The question is did you unilaterally decide to transfer P47.6 billion to PS-DBM?”
In response, Duque clarified, “No is the answer. I’m just complying with the rule of the PS-DBM. Again, I do not want to belabor the laws that authorize the PS-DBM to procure in a state of public health emergency materials.”
Duque further explained that the decision was based on recommendations from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), which he also headed.
“But I would like to reiterate that it is within my authority to effect the transfer because of the public health emergency where there were not enough CSEs (common-use supplies and equipment), PPEs (personal protective equipment), and other COVID pandemic supplies,” Duque added.
“So we wanted just to make sure, Madam Chairperson, that the lives of our people are protected and that the risks are mitigated from our people possibly then at the height of the pandemic that nobody knew about, that would have resulted in the millions of infections and countless deaths of our healthcare workers,” he stressed.
Earlier in the hearing, Garin grilled Duque over the Duterte government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming it has further burdened the people.
She pointed out the exorbitant cost of COVID-19 testing, which PhilHealth initially set at P8,150, in contrast to the P2,000 to P2,500 recommended by World Health Organization (WHO).
“The issue here is PhilHealth paying P8,150 per COVID testing at ‘yan ang naging benchmark kaya lahat ng private laboratories, including government laboratories ay tinaga ang mga pasyente. And mind you, nagkaroon pa kayo ng ruling na hindi pwede i-release kung hindi maging negative ang test,” Garin stressed.
Garin’s sharpest criticism highlighted her belief that the pandemic response worsened public suffering.
“So the point here is the pandemic became an opportunity para lalong maghirap ang tao,” she said.
Garin also raised serious concerns over the government’s handling of COVID-19 loans, emphasizing the burden on the public and the lack of accountability for the borrowed funds.
It was learned during the hearing that the government secured a total of USD2.21 billion for the Philippine COVID-19 Emergency Response Project (PCERP) and the Health System Enhancement to Address and Limit COVID-19 (HEAL) in 2021 and 2022.
“So if you translate that to pesos, considering the P51 conversion rate (in 2021), that’s tantamount to P112,719,180,000. But because the conversion rate has increased, nagkaroon na ‘yan na instead of P112.7 billion, naging P129.3 billion na siya. Ganun po kalaki ang utang natin,” Garin said.
She continued, “Pero marami pa rin na namatay, maraming healthcare workers ang hindi nababayaran, maraming hospital ang hindi nare-reimburse at hindi rin natin ma-account kung ‘yung mga binili natin ay talagang nagamit.”
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