De Lima seeks probe into alleged corruption at NCMH

National Center for Mental Health in Mandaluyong. (File photo By TETCH TORRES-TUPAS / INQUIRER.net)

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Leila de Lima wants an investigation into the supposed graft and corruption hounding the  National Center for Mental Health (NCMH).

“There is an urgent need to look into NCMH’s state of affairs, particularly the systemic graft and corruption therein that have cost the country millions in taxpayers’ money to dubious spending, and the life of a doctor who only intended to cleanse the NCMH from debilitating corruption,” she said in a statement issued on Saturday.

Earlier, De Lima had filed Senate Resolution No. 538 seeking a probe into the inaction of the Office of the Ombudsman on the corruption complaints filed in July 2019 by NCMH chief Rolando Cortez, who was shot dead, along with his driver, on July 27 this year.

Under his complaint, Cortez cited alleged irregularities in the project given to Octant Builders to extend NCMH Pavilion 6.

Cortez accused NCMH chief administrative officer Clarita Avila of being involved in the irregularities, nothing her being an incorporator of Octant Builders.

Avila and six other suspects were charged with the murder of Cortez and his driver.

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