Former Heath Secretary Janette Garin. INQUIRER.NET PHOTO/CATHY MIRANDA
Former Heath Secretary Janette Garin revealed on Wednesday the alleged “missing” and “undelivered” equipment that she uncovered when she took the helm of the Department of Health (DOH) in 2014.
Garin made the disclosure as she faced another probe in the Senate this time over the allegedly anomalous barangay health station (BHS) project during her time.
“I was not very vocal when I assumed office and my apologies if I’m bringing these issues out here but for the information of everybody, mas malala po yung naabutan ko kesa sa naabutan ni Secretary Duque,” she told the Senate committee on health looking into the BHS project.
She was referring to incumbent Health Secretary Francisco Duque, who has sought the help of the Commission on Audit and the Office of the Ombudsman’s to investigate the project.
READ: Duque seeks probe of P8.1-B health station mess
Garin then talked about the problems that she said they had encountered with the agency’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) such as the issues of poor quality equipment and the refusal of recipients to accept them.
She also cited the absence of legal basis for the creation of a clustered bid and awards committee (CBAC) and the special bids awards committee (SBAC) “thereby rending the biddings questionable.”
“Regional directors and local government units were not aware of equipment being procured hence utilization was not maximized,” Garin pointed out.
“Many procured equipment cannot be located as of December 2014,” she added.
In Manila, for instance, there were 237 items bought in 2010 but 227 have remained undelivered as of 2013.
“This is just a snap shot of the whole HFEP status when I assumed office,” she said.
“Marami po yan, I can just give you the report,” referring to an internal audit of the HFEP during her time.
As to the alleged irregularities on the procurement and implementation of the BHS project, Garin reiterated her call to Duque to just file appropriate charges instead of resorting to finger-pointing.
“Sec. Duque mentioned about the audit reports, he mentioned that there were anomalies in the procurement and all of these, I welcome all of that and it will be good for the Honorable Secretary to immediately file cases…” she said.
“Kasi mas mahirap po na palaging nagtututuran, wala namang nangyayari at the end,” Garin added. /muf