Lacson bares P1M ‘overprice’ in gov’t’s purchase of ambulances

MANILA, Philippines — Ambulances purchased by the national government were “overpriced” by P1 million per unit, Senator Panfilo Lacson bared Thursday.

In an interview with INQside Look, Lacson said that under the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) of the Department of Health, ambulances with equipment were procured at P2.5 million per unit.

However, upon checking with local government units (LGUs) that purchased the same unit of ambulance with the same equipment, the cost only amounted to P1.5 million.

“Diba nakakagalit yung isang ambulansya may overpricing agad na P1 million? In other words, lima na dapat ang nabili doon sa tatlo, if you will compute it accurately,” Lacson said.

“Imagine yung wastage ng pera dito na ang patong agad sa isang ambulansya na may gamit sa loob, P1 million,” he added.

Lacson said he is “personally upset” by the overpriced purchases especially when he was the one who realigned the 2021 budget to provide additional funding for HFEP.

“Ako masama ang loob ko dito because sa 2021, ako yung nag-realign ng P8.68 billion papunta sa HFEP. That’s on top of the 2020 insertion, or realignment that I made na P1 billion,” Lacson said.

“Pagkatapos malalaman ko from some LGUs na ganyan ka anomalya yung pagprocure ng mga equipment para sa HFEP. That’s on top of the deficiencies noted in the maintenance in the procurement of the HFEP at yung deficiency rin sa infrastructure,” he added.

INQUIRER.net has reached out to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III for a comment but has yet to receive a response as of posting time.

EDV