DoH shrugs off Sotto allegations of funds misuse

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Health (DoH) Wednesday shrugged off allegations of misuse of its funds, saying all subsidies for reproductive health and family planning had been properly accounted for and allocated to all local government units (LGU).

Health Secretary Enrique Ona said over P780 million earmarked for the campaign from 2008 to 2010 had been released upon compliance by LGUs of DoH requirements, including fund utilization and liquidation reports.

“A significant cause of delay in the releases is the failure of LGUs to liquidate amounts from the past grants,” explained Ona. “Many LGUs consider the grants as separate from their local family health budget, with its work and financial plan.”

Claiming that funds for family health in the past had been mishandled, Sen. Vicente Sotto III alleged on Tuesday that the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Quezon, Batangas and Lucena did not receive a single centavo for the project.

Ona said the provincial health office of Ilocos Norte received P644,525.60 and P602,588 in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

Liquidation report required

But the release of some P2.47 million for Ilocos Norte for 2010 was put on hold pending its submission to the DoH of its service agreement on its health investment plan for the province, he said.

The local governments of Calabarzon, including Quezon, Batangas and Lucena City, were being required by their local auditors to submit liquidation reports on previous fund releases, Ona said.

In 2008, the DoH gave family health grants amounting to P150 million to local governments.

Since 2009, the department has also been giving the same grants to assist LGUs in providing a “core package” of maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition services, Ona said.

The total grants for this program were P167 million and P467 million in 2009 and 2010, respectively, he said.

“We are working with the LGUs to address the bottlenecks in fund utilization and reporting to fast-track the release of much-needed funds for improving the health of our mothers and children,” said Ona.