Duque wants graft case in Sandigan junked

Former Health Sec. Francisco Duque III —PPA pool

MANILA, Philippines — Former Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has asked the Sandiganbayan to dismiss the graft case pending against him over his alleged part in the irregular transfer of P41.46 billion in Department of Health (DOH) funds to the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) for the purchase of pandemic supplies like COVID-19 test kits and face masks.

In his motion to quash filed on Monday, Duque asserted that the additional four percent service fee—or P1.66 billion of the total procurement cost—paid by the DOH to PS-DBM was “authorized” under Executive Order No. 359 issued in 1989.

The EO sets procedures for the procurement system covering common-use supplies, materials and equipment.

READ: Ex-DBM exec tagged in Pharmally mess arrested for graft in Davao City

“Having said this, the element of damage or injury to government as alleged by the Ombudsman is therefore absent, thus the motion to quash,” Duque said in a message to the Inquirer.

He argued that the additional fee charged by the PS-DBM “cover[s] their personnel and other operating expenses,” adding that “any excess is reverted to the national government.”

Reacting to Duque’s motion, Ombudsman Samuel Martires told reporters that it was his prerogative “to avail of legal remedies.”

The case was filed by the Ombudsman last month against Duque and former Budget Undersecretary Christopher Lloyd Lao after it found probable cause to hold them liable for graft.

Lao was arrested on Sept. 18 in Davao City but was released after posting bail of P90,000.

State prosecutors said that Duque and Lao “acted with evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence” in their capacities as health secretary and PS-DBM head due to alleged irregularities in the fund transfer between their agencies from March to December 2020.

The DOH, then led by Duque, should have first determined whether tapping PS-DBM would expedite the procurement of protective personal equipment needed by public health workers at the height of the COVID-19 crisis, the Ombudsman said.

It added that the DOH, as a procuring entity, had the authority to directly negotiate or purchase essential COVID-19 goods, making it unnecessary to ask for PS-DBM’s services.