BOCAUE, Bulacan — Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said the parties involved in the controversial PHP8.1-billion barangay health station (BHS) project of the Department of Health (DOH) must be held accountable.
“Someone must go to jail in the anomalous DOH’s barangay health station project,” he said before boarding a speedboat to participate in the “Pagoda sa Krus sa Wawa” fluvial procession at the Bocaue River on Sunday.
Under the BHS project that was implemented in 2015 under the Aquino administration, a total of 5,700 barangay health stations were supposed to be completed nationwide in two phases.
The project was, however, terminated this year with only 270 units completed, Ejercito said.
The senator, chairperson of the Committee on Health, said at the very least, a technical malversation case must be filed against those involved in the alleged irregularities in the procurement and implementation of the project.
He said they already conducted a hearing on the issue last Wednesday.
Ejercito expressed belief that there was poor planning and execution of the project, which entails the construction of more than 5,000 school-based rural health units to help bridge the gap in the people’s access to health care.
“The project has no clear guidelines, plan of actions, program plans, and what was prioritized was the release of the funds that caused the mayhem in its implementation,” he said.
The senator likened the BHS project to other housing projects of the government that were beset by “kutsabahan (connivance)”.
To stop these kinds of practices, Ejercito said the perpetrators must be charged in court.
“By doing so, this will send a strong message to contractors and government officials to stop spending the people’s money anomalously,” he stressed. (Manny Balbin/PNA)
