House to continue inquiry on DOH handling of COVID-19 funds on Friday

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (SENATE PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives will continue its inquiry into the annual report of the Commission on Audit (COA) that found deficiencies in the handling of COVID-19 funds of the Department of Health (DOH) on August 20, Friday.

The continuation of the inquiry was initially scheduled on Thursday, August 19, but was moved to Friday by the House Committee on Public Accounts.

This will be the second hearing to be led by the committee, with the first one held on Tuesday. The Senate also conducted its own investigation on the matter on Wednesday.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III turned emotional  as he ranted against the COA, even daring state auditors to instead do his agency’s work during the pandemic.

According to Duque, he and other DOH personnel have lost sleep due to “shame” as they were “bloodied and bludgeoned with this issue.”

He also lamented that the COA report has “damaged” the “dignity” of the DOH and its workers, including himself.

COA’s report found deficiencies amounting to P67.32 billion in the DOH’s  COVID-19 response fund in 2020.

The report indicated that the deficiencies were caused by non-compliance with pertinent laws and regulations that have led to missed opportunities and contributed to challenges that the country faced during the health crisis.

There was no mention of corruption in the COA report.

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