President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated the report of the National Task Force (NTF) on COVID-19 that the country is expected to receive 25 million COVID-19 doses for the month of September.
In his public address recorded in Davao City on Thursday (Sept. 2), Duterte urged those who have yet to receive their second dose to complete their vaccination as the country’s COVID-19 cases surpass two million.
Duterte said the government continues to respond to the pandemic despite the rise in the number of cases.
“That is a very good reflection of what our health people are doing, and I would like also to commend Secretary Duque for that,” he said, while defending the Department of Health (DOH) amid the ongoing Senate probe into their budget utilization.
“Do not investigate programs which are ongoing. You will derail it, you will delay it by your incessant, penchant investigation of government offices,” he said.
Duterte defended anew that there are no anomalies in the government’s procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) and face masks in 2020.
The NTF said the government did not release any funds for the PPEs until they were delivered and inspected.
“‘Yung ating mga produkto na hinihingi, hindi po natin binabayaran ‘yan hanggang hindi po nai-inspect… ‘Yung supplier po natin, siya ang gagastos ng lahat. Wala po tayong gastos. Babayaran lang po natin kapag na-deliver na po dito,” NTF chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said.
According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, there are provisions of current laws that allow procurements to skip public bidding during times of emergency.
“Pero maski wala na pong bidding, ang ginawa po ng PS-DBM [Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management] ay kumuha po sila ng mga price quotes,” Roque said, adding that the supplier which offered the lowest price was selected.
Meanwhile, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the DOH’s purchased ambulance units of Nissan cargo van with Automated External Defibrillator (AEB) cost P2.5 million each.
“The same vehicle’s purchased price is around P1.27m minus the AEB which should cost P300,000 more or less, or roughly P1.5M-P1.6M with AEB. In Calabarzon alone, the DOH distributed 98 ambulance units,” he said.
The executive department has yet to comment on the matter. – Report from Mela Lesmoras/AG-rir
