VICE President Leni Robredo yesterday said it will be useless for Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to heed calls for him to resign if the system at the department, which has caused the alleged mishandling of COVID-19 funds last year, will not be changed.
Calls for Duque’s ouster or resignation, which were first aired last year by various sectors including senators, were revived last week after a Commission on Audit report said the DOH did not comply with laws and regulations in handling a P67.323-billion fund that government released last year to address the COVID-19 pandemic. COA also said DOH transactions are undergoing further scrutiny because of doubts on their regularity and propriety.
COA later released another audit finding questioning the DOH’s fund management during a national health crisis, saying the agency failed to spend about P59 billion of its P200.95-billion total budget allotments in 2020.
Duque has long been blamed for the department’s failures and blunders since the pandemic started early last year.
Robredo said nothing good will happen even if Duque resigns but the DOH system remains.
“Ang pinaka-importante sa atin palagi moving forward, ‘di ba. Ano iyong makaka-improve?
Kasi kahit magbitiw, kung hindi mag-improve ang sistema wala rin” (Moving forward is always more important for us, right? What can we do to improve? Because even if he resigns and the system doesn’t improve, nothing will happen),” Robredo said said in her weekly radio program on RMN when asked about calls foe Duque to resign.
COA said the mishandling of public funds made it harder for the government to address the pandemic.
“Nasa middle tayo ng pandemic, napakahalaga na maayos iyong governance. Kasi kapag hindi talaga maayos iyong governance, buhay ng tao iyong nakataya (We’re in the middle of a pandemic. Good governance is extremely important because if not, people’s lives are at stake),” she also said.
The Vice President said that while it is too early to conclude, improper documentation of funds use should be looked into, something that is also a “governance issue.”
At the House, Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco said he has requested the COA to brief House members this week to shed light on its findings.
“We want to get the facts straight from COA and we are particularly concerned because the funds involved were among those allocated under the Bayanihan laws that Congress passed last year,” Velasco said in a statement.
The House said the briefing, to be hosted by the committee on public accounts any day this week, would allow House members “to monitor the use of pandemic funds and develop corresponding legislation.”
“The overall objective is to ensure that the billions of pesos Congress had dedicated to COVID-19 response – and any additional funds it provides in future legislation – are spent wisely and effectively,” Velasco said.
The House chief said DOH officials will also be invited to the briefing to “explain and account for the pandemic funds mentioned in the COA report.”
HEALTHCARE WORKERS
The DOH defended its decision to provide healthcare workers (HCWs) with cash allowances, gift certificates, and grocery items, saying it was permitted by no less than Malacañang.
“The alleged ‘deficiencies’ in the management of P275.9 million in cash allowances, gift certificates, and grocery items, cited in the COA 2020 Consolidated Annual Audit Report, have already been settled with the issuance of the Presidential Memorandum dated June 1, 2021,” the DOH said in a statement.
COA has flagging the P275.9-million worth of meal allowances given to HCWs through cash allowances, gift certificates, and grocery items, instead of provision of life insurance, accommodations, and transportation. COA said it is inconsistent with the Bayanihan to Heal as One law and “defeats the purpose of the funds, and lacks sufficient legal basis.”
Under the Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan 2, healthcare workers are entitled to meals, accommodation, and transportation benefits.
To provide these benefits to healthcare workers, the DOH said, it downloaded P2.4 billion to Centers for Health Development, DOH hospitals, and specialty hospitals.
To immediately distribute the benefits, the DOH said, some hospitals and facilities opted to provide the benefits through cash, grocery vouchers, grocery items, and the like.
However, the DOH noted that the state auditors disagreed and recommended the return of the allowances already paid.
The DOH said it then requested the Office of the President to allow the provision of the benefits in cash equivalents.
The DOH said the Office of the President responded to the request of the healthcare workers and recognized the need to provide meal, transportation, and accommodation benefits for public and private health workers in cash equivalents like gift checks, grocery vouchers, and grocery items.
The Philippine Nurses Association said it is discouraging HCWs from pushing through with their planned mass resignation because of unpaid special risk allowance.
The plan was disclosed by the Filipino Nurses United.
PNA president Melbert Reyes said a mass resignation in the middle of a health crisis will affect patients.
She also asked the government to heed the call of the healthcare workers to review their compensation package to encourage them to help during the pandemic. — With Gerard Naval
