MANILA – Francisco Duque III is planning to appeal the Office of the Ombudsman’s indictment order regarding the transfer of Department of Health (DOH) funds to the Procurement Service unit of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).
According to the former DOH secretary, he will file a motion for reconsideration.
The Ombudsman order stemmed from the transfer of over P41 billion to PS-DBM for the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) for COVID-19.
The Ombudsman said Duque and PS-DBM undersecretary Christopher Lao might have conspired since the fund transfer was done without the necessary documents, and the PS-DBM was not authorized to procure personal protective equipment or PPEs.
Duque, then-chairman of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), explained that he only used the “whole of government approach” to address the COVID-19 pandemic with the fund transfer.
“Dahil sa aking trabaho bilang chairman ng IATF, busy ako sa coordination with 34 national government agencies. Busy ako sa paggawa ng capacity-building,” Duque said in an interview over the weekend.
Duque cited Republic Act 9184, the Bayanihan Law 1 and 2, the General Appropriations Act and Executive Order 359 mandating the PS-DBM, which Lao headed, to procure common-use supplies and equipment for national government agencies, as legal basis for the transfer of funds.
“Ang PS-DBM, national agency iyan, and using the principle of whole-of-government approach, eh sila ang sinabi ko na kayo na ang maghanap ng suppliers ng PPEs,” he added.
Duque also said that the pandemic supplies bought from the controversial Pharmally Pharmaceutical were delivered to hospitals across the country despite the issue of overpricing. He admitted, however, that some did not meet the standards of the DOH.
“We must admit that some of the PPE did not meet the standards of the DOH, kasi halimbawa, mali yung specification, hindi tinatanggap ng DOH. Halimbawa mag-e-expire na, hindi na tatanggapin ng DOH,” he said.
“Pero hindi naman puwedeng ang healthcare workers, kapag pinabayaan mo ‘yan, mag-aantay tayo ng local supplier, eh lalong maraming mamamatay. Hindi natin kakayanin ‘yon. Magko-collapse ang healthcare system ng Pilipinas,” he added./PN
