THE Office of the Ombudsman is just about ready to conclude its investigations into allegations that the Department of Health led by Secretary Francisco Duque III acted too late in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed doctors and other health care professionals to risks that could have been avoided.
Interviewed by CNN Philippines, Ombudsman Samuel Martires yesterday said he expects the panel of investigators to submit a resolution containing its findings “within the month.”
He said results of the investigation will be made public.
Specifically, the Ombudsman’s inquiry focused on why there was a shortage of personal protective equipment for the use of frontline health workers, many of whom were forced to improvise or spend their own money to be able to continue their hospital duties as the number of patients ballooned.
While the national government promised extra compensation and benefits for healthcare workers who perished in the line of duty, groups of doctors and nurses later revealed that the promised amount of P100,000 for those who will get hospitalized from coronavirus infection and P1 million for COVID-related deaths did not materialize.
“I felt so passionate about this. I thought, had the PPE been purchased prior to the declaration of the lockdown, we could have avoided deaths of medical practitioners and workers. Bakit ang tagal-tagal? (Why did they take their time?)” Martires said.
The Ombudsman said the DOH could have started procurement of PPE sets as early as December 2019 as there were already warnings from health experts about the novel coronavirus infection.
Martires earlier said there were three teams of graft investigators deployed to review records and interview potential witnesses
When the investigation was launched in June 2020, official government figures showed there have been 2,703 health workers who contracted the coronavirus, 32 of whom died.
A Sept. 1, 2021 report by Reuters said 103 medical processionals have died due to COVID-19.
