THE Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) yesterday pushed for the suspension of Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa and five other officials of the Department of Health (DOH) who are facing multiple corruption cases before the Office of the Ombudsman.
In a statement, the AHW said Herbosa and his co-accused must be suspended while facing multiple corruption charges.
“As the country continues to grapple with the challenges posed by extreme health, economic, and political crises, health workers are counting on the government to uphold integrity and accountability using public funds,” said the AHW.
“We demand a thorough and full independent investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman regarding this matter, immediate suspension of those under investigation to ensure impartial proceedings, transparent audit from the Commission on how such anomalies continue to go unnoticed,” it added.
The health workers said the call for accountability is necessary, as such allegations involving health officials are unacceptable.
This, they added, is especially since it involves P44.6 million worth of psychiatric drugs allegedly released to a private civic group, the Rotary Club of Quezon City.
“This is a serious breach of public trust and a blatant disregard for public health safety, corruption, abuse of authority, protocols and legal safeguards, if proven true,” said the group.
“The situation exposes alarming levels of inventory mismanagement, lack of accountability, and the possible manipulation of resources meant for vulnerable patients, and this is totally unacceptable,” added AHW.
Earlier, a complaint was filed by concerned DOH personnel and healthcare governance advocates against Herbosa and five other officials of the health department.
The complaint stemmed from the alleged questionable and disproportionate allocation of government-procured psychiatric medications to the Rotary Club of Quezon City.
Sought for its comment, the DOH said it is still waiting for the official copy of the complaint.
“We await the official service of the reported complaint before any action or comment,” said DOH Spokesman Albert Domingo.
