Leaving COVID-19 funds idle is ‘criminal negligence’ – Makabayan lawmakers

MANILA, Philippines — Makabayan lawmakers are demanding an investigation of the Department of Health’s (DOH) “grave inefficiency, gross incompetence, and criminal negligence” in managing its COVID-19 funds for 2020.

This developed as the Commission on Audit (COA) briefed a House panel on its 2020 audit report on the DOH, amid findings that the DOH had deficiencies in handling P67.3 billion in COVID-19 funds.

On Monday, the Makabayan bloc filed House Resolution No. 2129 urging the public accounts, and good government and public accountability panels to jointly investigate the DOH’s use of funds.

The lawmakers cited the government and the DOH’s task to “efficiently allocate and use limited resources in the pursuit of ending the health crisis.”

“The inefficiency, delay and the incompetence in the delivery of the much-needed services to the public already amount to criminal negligence as thousands of Filipinos already died and are dying of getting infected of the viral disease,” part of the resolution read.

Audit findings on the DOH released last week revealed various deficiencies in its use of P67.3 billion in COVID-19 funds, P11.28 billion of which remained untapped at the end of 2020.

State auditors also found that the agency failed to spend P59.1 billion of its 2020 budget, a “considerable amount” that affected its pandemic response.

COA clarification

The COA, however, issued a statement to clarify that the audit report does not mention any loss of funds due to corruption and that it is premature to make conclusions.

On Monday, House public accounts panel chair and Probinsyano Ako Rep. Jose Singson Jr. said the COA’s briefing on the DOH audit report for lawmakers was set for Aug. 17 at 1:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, House deputy speaker and Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez urged Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to attend the COA’s briefing for lawmakers and explain the audit body’s findings.

A criminal act

In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Monday slammed the defenses put up by the DOH over the latest COA findings on its supposedly mismanaged government funding for the pandemic response.

He said that for government agencies to have left idle funds for COVID-19 response while the country continues to be ravaged by the pandemic was tantamount to committing a criminal act.

“You hear about patients lining up on the sidewalk. Isn’t this criminal? You have so much funds, which are unobligated? You have funds that are placed in a procurement service agency of the [Department of Budget and Management] and, yet, you have lack of ventilators and our health personnel are complaining they have not been paid their allowances,” he said in a television interview.

Drilon made the statement as he aired his dismay on the COA findings, saying Duque is not off the hook even after the audit body clarified that its findings on the DOH pandemic funds are not conclusive of the existence of corruption.

The Senate committee on good government and public accountability will launch on Wednesday its investigation of the COA’s findings, which, Drilon said, will look into the possible liabilities of Duque.

“With the very dangerous situation we are in, our health system is already on the verge of collapsing. I hope it does not collapse but the signs are there. Yet, the DOH is not helping,” he added.

Drilon cited part of the COA findings that the transfer of P42 billion in pandemic funds to “procurement partners” was undocumented, and that P24.64 billion comprised “unobligated funds.”