Probe on DOH-ARMM stock room fire sought

COTABATO CITY—The former head of the Department of Health in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has called for a deeper investigation into Tuesday’s fire that gutted the stock room of the DOH regional office.

Dr. Tahir Sulaik, former DOH-ARMM secretary, made the call which was echoed by his successor, Dr. Kadil Sinolinding Jr.

Sinolinding said an urgent inventory of affected supplies was also needed as it was important when requesting replenishment from the DOH central office.

Just recently, Gov. Mujiv Hataman turned over some P5 million worth of “emergency stocks” of drugs and other supplies to the DOH-ARMM.

Sulaik, who is now Maguindanao health chief, said arson investigators should determine if the fire was deliberately set because he suspected that among those burned were “questionable procurement documents.”

Sinolinding, however, assured the public that his office was never involved in questionable procurements and in fact, all its transactions were transparent.

ARMM chief of staff John Magno said it was the policy of the Hataman administration “to make public any cash disbursement and procurements that involve government funds.”

Sinolinding also said no important documents were lost in the fire as these are always kept in a secure environment. “All procurement documents and sensitive records are safe and intact in steel cabinets,” he said.

He also said that to prevent suspicions, he had barred DOH-ARMM personnel from entering the burned stock room while an investigation was ongoing.

Warlito Daus, director of the ARMM’s Bureau of Fire Protection said a probe has already started and arson investigators are trying to determine the possible origin of the 10:25 a.m. fire that damaged about P2 million in property and supplies.

Sinolinding said he was told that before the fire started, some DOH-ARMM personnel reported seeing “flickering lights.”

In an earlier report, physician Ariadne Silongan, DOH-ARMM consultant, said the blaze was believed to have been triggered by an electrical short circuit and occurred while employees were busy attending to their functions.