Commission on Audit (COA) chairperson Michael Aguinaldo said the audit findings on the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) pointed out “inventory management” issues rather than overpricing.
The official said the recommendations on the audit findings were on “marketing strategies” as there was no movement on the items due to their expensive price.
“The findings of auditing that handles PS-DBM really pertained more to inventory management and not the overpricing,” Aguinaldo said, referring to the alleged overpriced face masks and shields procured in 2020.
It was earlier found out that some of the procured equipment were not delivered due to problems in inventory and warehousing.
“The problem was hindi po na-dispose kasi a lot of these equipment right away… Noong dumating po no’ng September and the prices went down, the regional offices and the hospitals ng DOH [Department of Health], ayaw nang bumili o kumuha from PS-DBM kasi mahal,” he said.
“Now they’re faced with the problem with a lot of stock but no one wants to get it because it’s expensive, and so mapipilitan ang PS-DBM to dispose of them at a discount,” he added.
The COA has recently flagged the PS-DBM for its procurement of expensive face masks and shields.
Malacaῆang has consistently denied that there were no overpricing and corruption in the purchased personal protective equipment in 2020, including those made with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. -AG-rir
