MANILA – The Commission on Audit’s findings on deficiencies in the Department of Health’s (DOH) PHP67.32 billion allocation for the Covid-19 pandemic response was unfair and unjust, according to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Tuesday, who said the issue harmed the dignity of the agency and its workers.
During a House hearing on the COA report, Duque said he and other health officials have been losing sleep as the agency’s morale has been damaged by the COA’s 2020 audit report regarding alleged inadequacies in administering pandemic funds.
He said that the DOH was not even given the opportunity to respond to the audit report, which was based on preliminary findings.
“Winarak na ninyo kami eh, winarak na ninyo ang dangal ng DOH. Winarak ninyo ang lahat ng mga kasama ko dito, hindi kami makaharap sa mga tao dahil lahat ang dami-daming sinasabi, ang dami-daming paratang. Wala pa rin akong tulog, ilang gabi na po ito (You’ve damaged us. You’ve destroyed DOH’s dignity. You’ve damaged every one of us here and we cannot face the people because of several accusations. I haven’t had enough sleep yet for days),” he said.
According to him, COA should take into account the fact that the DOH is not operating under regular conditions, but rather under a state of public health emergency.
“Masakit po talaga sa amin ito dahil kami ho ang pangunahing ahensya na humaharap, tumutugon sa panahon na ito. Sabi ko nga sa inyo, nagkasakit na ang mga tao ko, nag-isolate, nagquarantine, may namatay na, pero Diyos por Santo, maawa naman kayo, kayo nga ang pumunta dito at kayo ang gumawa? (It really hurts us because we are the primary agency at the forefront of [Covid-19]. I’ve already told you that a lot of my workers have isolated themselves, quarantined, and some of them even died. But by God, by saint, have mercy on us. Why don’t you come over here and do our work)” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte blamed “incomplete paperwork” for the DOH’s insufficient funding for Covid-19 response operations in 2020.
In his pre-recorded Talk to the People, which aired late Monday night, Duterte stated it’s “pure b***s***” to say that the COA-flagged DOH funds were stolen.
When the President slammed the COA’s report on the DOH’s deficiencies in handling the Covid-19 funds, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque clarified that Duterte is not threatening COA.
Duterte is simply venting his frustrations, according to Roque, because the public has already criticized the DOH based on the COA’s “first assessments”.
“I don’t think he made any threats. He expressed frustrations kasi nga kung babasahin mo ‘yung mga nalathala based on the preliminary observations eh para bang hindi ginastos ng Department of Health ang [PHP67] billion sa panahon ng pandemya (because if you read the reports based on the preliminary observations, the Department of Health did not spend the [PHP67] billion amid the pandemic),” he said.
Roque said Duterte is expected to defend the DOH, because the agency is being assessed based on an audit report that has yet to be completed.
Nonetheless, he welcomed the COA’s decision to clarify that the detected flaws in the management of pandemic funds are not convincing evidence of corruption.
The COA has previously raised concerns about the DOH’s alleged inability to follow existing laws and regulations in managing the Covid-19 response funds, which totaled PHP67.32 billion.
The funds identified by COA are “accounted for” and “appropriately utilized” for the pandemic response, according to the DOH.
The findings of the COA have spurred calls for the resignation of Health Secretary Francisco Duque.
Despite continued calls for Duque to resign, Roque claimed the Health Secretary continues to have Duterte’s “full trust and confidence”.
“All Cabinet members serve at the pleasure of the President, and Secretary Duque, according to the President last night, continues to have his full trust and confidence,” he said.
