Sen. Risa Hontiveros (File photo from the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — Enough of the finger-pointing.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Monday said executives of the Department of Health (DOH) and other public officials should just cooperate with the Commission on Audit (COA) in examining the government’s vaccine procurement program instead of blaming each other.
“Truth be told, the time to subpoena the withheld documents COA needs for its special audit was yesterday,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“While the conduct of the special audit faces delay, we could not determine the state agencies and individuals who are possibly involved in the anomalies in the usage of funds that the government loaned for the government’s COVID-19 responses,” she said.
The senator issued the statement after former Health Secretary Francisco Duque III belied the claim of COA Chair Gamaliel Cordoba that he had previously informed the state auditors that the DOH could not submit the official documents on the purchase of vaccines.
Fielding questions from Hontiveros during his confirmation hearing before the Commission on Appointments last week, Cordoba disclosed that Duque cited the nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) that the government signed with the vaccine manufacturers for his decision to withhold the records.
Duque said he was also puzzled why his successor, DOH officer in charge Maria Rosario Vergeire, did not mention that it was actually him who sent a letter to then COA chief Michael Aguinaldo on Nov. 16, 2021, asking for a special audit.
Loan condition
He said his request for an audit was a condition set by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for approving three loan programs for the Philippines amounting to about $2 billion.
“This, I hope, will set the record straight and debunk any misnomer and unfair portrayal of me as refusing to submit vaccine procurement to COA for audit,” Duque said.
Hontiveros said she had actually been asking for an inspection of the multibillion-peso vaccine procurement program after the government completed its first round of inoculation drive in 2020.
“Up to this point, concerned agencies like the DOH, whether under Duque or Vergeire, are not providing [COA] with sufficient documents to proceed with the special audit,” she said.
“Stop pointing fingers. Government agencies should cooperate and get the audit done,” the senator said.
The COA should utilize its authority to the “fullest extent” in requiring all concerned state agencies to submit their records pertaining to the COVID-19 vaccine procurement program to help state auditors complete the audit by the first half of 2023, Hontiveros said.