MANILA — The anti-graft court has ordered the Department of Health (DOH) to implement the suspension order imposed on a hospital chief and three others for the illegal procurement of a multi-million peso magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine in 2005.
Ordered suspended for 90 days are Quirino Memorial Medical Center chief Dr. Angeles De Leon; Luz Padua, nurse; Milagrina Jacinto, nutritionist; and Michael Raquel, medical technologist.
The Sandiganbayan directed the implementation of the suspension order after the Supreme Court upheld the Sandiganbayan’s power to suspend.
In 2015, the Sandiganbayan ordered the suspension of De Leon and her co-accused who are facing graft charges in connection with the procurement of a PHP44.9-million MRI machine from Fernando Medical Enterprises (FMEI), Inc. in 2005. They were found to have violated the rule prohibiting advance payment for goods.
Investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman showed that during the project’s implementation, the accused approved the release of PHP16.406 million representing the supplier’s advance and progress payments despite FMEI’s failure to deliver and install the medical equipment. (PNA)
