OMBUDSMAN Samuel Martires yesterday said the dismissal of the administrative case against former Health Secretary Francisco Duque III will not affect the graft case filed against him and former Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao over the transfer of P41.46 billion DOH fund for COVID-19 response in 2020.
In a 10-page resolution signed September 30, 2024, the Ombudsman granted Duque’s motion for reconsideration to the May 6, 2024 decision that pronounced him guilty of grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
Citing lack of jurisdiction, the Ombudsman sustained Duque’s argument that he can no longer be a proper subject of an administrative complaint that was filed on August 15, 2023 since he stepped down and left government service when the Duterte administration ended on June 30, 2022.
“Here, there is no denying that Duque’s separation from service coincided with the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term of office on 30 June 2022. Such separation was a necessary consequence of the coterminous nature of his appointment as DOH Secretary,” the Ombudsman said.
With the reversal of the guilty ruling, the penalties of forfeiture of retirement benefits and perpetual disqualification from reemployment in government were also set aside.
Asked whether a similar ruling would apply to Lao, Martires replied: “No. Lao did not raise that issue.”
Both the administrative charges and the criminal indictment for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act were based on the finding that Duque and Lao acted “with conscious and deliberate disregard or reckless abandonment” of the rules when the DOH Secretary approved the transfer of P41,463,867,117.52 to the PS-DBM from March to December 2020.
The Ombudsman said the DOH had a “demonstrated capacity and proficiency to undertake the procurement” of COVID-19 supplies and equipment by itself since it had its own technical experts and roster of suppliers.
With the fund transfer, it noted that the DOH also lost P1.658 billion which was charged by the PS-DBM as a “4 percent service fee” for acting as procurement agent or middleman for the agency.
In his motion for reconsideration, Duque contested the findings saying that it was obligated to tap the PS-DBM since under the rules of the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB), the COVID-19 supplies and equipment were already classified as “common supplies and equipment (CSE).”
On the other hand, he said the transfer of funds regarding non-CSE items was “brought about by genuine urgency and necessity based on the real-time needs of the DOH and its sub-agencies.”
On the issue of undue injury to the government, Duque pointed out that the PS-DBM is also a government agency hence the fund remained with the government so there was no real injury to speak of.
However, these details were no longer tackled in the Ombudsman’s September 30, 2024 resolution.
“Considering that the issues on the administrative charges have been rendered moot, this Office sees no point in belaboring the other arguments related thereto,” the Ombudsman declared.
