MANILA, Philippines – Several senators are urging state auditors to conduct a special review of all government spending on COVID-19 from Bayanihan to heal in a single act.
Other signatories to the solution include pro-Tempore Senate President Ralph Recto, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Senator Sonny Angara, and Senators Panfilo Lacson, Francis Pangilinan, and Leila of Lima.
“The Congress before this year, through the Bayanihan Act, gave the government broad strength, adding the force to realign and allocate billions of taxpayers’ cash to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Kailangan nating malaman kung ang tulong ba ay napunta for sa dapat tulungan (We want to know if the investment has gone to those who love it), ” he added.
The Bayanihan Act, which expired in June, allowed the government to temporarily acquire products, facilities, utilities and was considered mandatory for the reaction to coronavirus disease 2019 without the required tendering procedure as explained in the Government Procurement Reform Act.
But the purchases were marred by accusations of excessive pricing, Hontiveros said.
He cited the value of four million pesos of automatic nucleic acid extractors purchased through the government compared to 1.75 million pesos purchased through the personal sector; EPI sets a value of 1,800 P when the market value is between four00 P and 1,000 P; as well as the import of “more expensive” RT-PCR control kits from China and Korea, while “the cheapest ones manufactured in the Philippines accumulate dust in laboratories.”
READ: Lacson reports on medical costs for DOH
Hontiveros’ solution also cited the acquisition of EPI purportedly too expensive through the purchase of the Budget and Management Department [PS-DBM] and the Philippine International Trade Corporation [PITC]”, while many fitness agents and frontline agents have become ill with protection equipment.”
To date, the Philippine fitness government has shown 83,673 cases of COVID-19 in the country. Of these, 26,617 have already recovered, while 1,947 have died of the disease.
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