PRESIDENTIAL Adviser on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response Vince Dizon yesterday said the government’s syringe inventory is sufficient until the end of the year, as he dismissed as miscommunication the exchange of allegations between Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.
Dizon, during the Laging Handa public briefing, said the Department of Health (DOH) has already clarified that there was no “ball dropping” that happened as far as its transaction with a US syringe supplier is concerned.
“Very clear naman po na wala naman pong nag-drop ng ball. Siguro nagkaroon lang po ng miscommunication pero I think na-clarify na po ito ng DOH (It’s very clear that there is no dropping of the ball. It was probably just a miscommunication, but I think the DOH has already clarified it),” he said.
Dizon reiterated the country has sufficient supply of both vaccines and syringes that will last until the end of the year.
Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire, in a briefing with Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, said the government is now using a mix of the 0.3 ml syringe and an alternative tuberculin syringe for the Pfizer vaccines to prevent disruption of the inoculation program.
Vergeire said 3.6 million of the 0.3 mil syringes for the Pfizer vaccines have been delivered to the country this month and have been equally distributed nationwide.
An estimated 40 million more of the 0.3 mil syringes that the government procured will be delivered early next year.
‘JUNIOR LEVEL’
Locsin yesterday hit back at Duque after the latter denied that the government “dropped the ball again” this time on the procurement of some 50 million syringes from the United States.
Aside from denying Locsin’s claim and calling it “pure lies,” Duque also said he was dismayed that Locsin made his allegations through social media when he could have directly communicated with him.
But in a series of tweets Monday night, Locsin hit back at Duque saying the latter has no right to question his motive in making public his claim about the deal.
“Hindi (No). Just respond to the offer professionally on the right not junior level, say no and explain why. The offeror answered back devastatingly. Don’t ever, Duque ever, question my motive,” Locsin said.
“I was assured it was being handled professionally and would be disposed of on a factual basis and not by pakiusap or tago-ng-tago. It was given to junior staff,” he said in another tweet.
Again in another tweet, Locsin said he has no intention of tarnishing the reputation of the Duterte administration with his revelation.
“Kasi tayo ay sa parehong administrasyon, ayaw ko mababuy ang reputation ng Duterte administration. Walang kasamahan sa kababuyan (We are in the same administration. I do not want to tarnish the reputation of the Duterte administration),” he said.
Duque disputed Locsin’s claim that the DOH did not respond professionally to the offer of syringe supply.
In a television interview, Duque assured Locsin that the offer of an unnamed company was responded properly. “We gave them an answer in a professional manner, in the emails… we have email threads,” said Duque.
“He (Locsin) said that we should answer it professionally. We have documents showing that we did so,” he added.
In a separate statement, the DOH stated that its offer was adequately handled by its personnel.
“The DOH earnestly responded to the queries of the company through its technical staff, who are well-versed in the procurement process for health commodities and are specifically tasked to address queries from suppliers,” said the DOH.
PROCUREMENT PROCESS
According to the DOH, what they did in securing syringe supplies was to simply adhere to the procurement process provided by law.
This, it said, is by sticking to the Approved Budget for Contract (ABC) while including the name of the company in its pool of suppliers for the emergency procurement of syringes.
“While it has received an offer for the supply of 0.3ml syringes, the DOH cannot act on such an unsolicited proposal. Nonetheless, it has included the company in its pool of suppliers for the emergency procurement of syringes,” said the DOH.
“When the company questioned the maximum contract price for being too low, the Department had to reiterate the provision on Ceiling for Bid Prices of the 2016 Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 9184,” it added.
The DOH also noted how the company offered to supply 0.3ml syringes, while the ongoing emergency procurement is 0.5ml syringes.
“The DOH is not procuring 0.3ml syringes at the moment, as our CHDs and hospitals have been given funds to procure the available alternative, tuberculin syringes. What we are procuring are 0.5ml syringes. And, as part of our pool of suppliers, we invited as many suppliers as we can to get the best price for the government,” said the DOH.
Duque reiterated that being under an emergency situation does not excuse one to disregard procurement laws.
“We have to follow pertinent rules and regulations, even as we undertake urgent procurements and activities for the pandemic response,” said Duque. — With Ashzel Hachero and Gerard Naval
