Facade of the DOH main office in Manila. INQUIRER.net file photo
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) pointed its finger at the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service (DBM-PS) over the questioned transfer of money for COVID-19 equipment without the required memorandum of agreement (MOA).
During the briefing of the House committee on accounts, the DOH was asked about the P42-billion procurement of COVID-19 supplies without the required MOA and other supporting documents.
This was among the deficiencies observed by the Commission on Audit (COA) in its annual report on the DOH.
“One of the requirements as flagged by the COA is that there should be a memorandum of agreement and upon consultation with the [DBM-PS], which we did last week, we inquired if indeed MOA is required, we got a reply stating that pursuant to their policies, a MOA is not required in the procurements concerning common-use supplies and equipment,” DOH procurement director Paul Guimbarda said.
The DBM-PS is tasked to handle large-scale procurements for the government during the pandemic such as with COVID-19 supplies. In turn, government agencies can purchase from the DBM-PS instead of dealing with private firms.
The transfer of funds despite the absence of a MOA was also questioned by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon.
“To me, the transfer of P42 billion to procurement and implementing partner agencies without documentation is the most concerning item as it comprises the biggest chunk of the mismanaged P67 billion for COVID 19 programs,” Drilon said in a statement.
“This should raise red flags as these are unaccounted or unliquidated transfers,” he added.