Itinuro ni dating Health Secretary Francisco Duque III si dating pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na siyang nag-utos sa paglipat ng P47.6 bilyong pondo ng Department of Health (DOH) sa Procurement Service ng Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) para sa pagbili ng mga medical supplies sa kasagsagan ng COVID-19 pandemic noong 2020.
Sa oversight hearing ng House Committee on Appropriations nitong Lunes, nagtanong si ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro kay Duque kaugnay ng kinukuwestyong paglilipat ng pondo.
"Sinasabi sa atin ni Secretary Duque sa utos ni dating Presidente Duterte ay nagkaroon ng ganito na transfer ng P47.6B, tama po ba?" tanong ni Castro.
Positibo naman ang naging tugon ni Duque at sinabi na isinapubliko ito ni Duterte sa isa sa kanilang lingguhang pagpupulong o talk to the people.
"So clear po 'yan, P47.6 billion to be transferred to PS-DBM, publicly announced by the former President Duterte na ma-transfer 'yan," dagdag pa ni Castro.
Kamakailan ay ipinag-utos ng Office of the Ombudsman ang pagsasampa ng kasong graft laban kay Duque at dating DBM Undersecretary Christopher Lao kaugnay ng naturang paglipat ng pondo.
Napatunayan din ng Ombudsman na guilty si Duque at Lao sa mga kasong administratibong grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty at conduct prejudicial to the service.
Sa pagdinig ng komite, nagtanong din si House Deputy Majority Leader at Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin kung mayroong bang opisyal na utos sa ginawang paglipat ng pondo.
"So I think Hon. Castro, the answer of Secretary Duque was in a public address of the President, of the former President. 'Yun naman medyo nagugulat ako, Madam Chair, because officially there are actually official notices or instructions," sabi ni Garin.
"So was there any instruction, Madam Chair, or who instructed Secretary Duque to initiate the P47.6 billion transfer? It can be answered by the name of the authority who instructed him or the name of the committee or I do not know. So ganoon lang, Madam Chair, if Secretary Duque can respond," dagdag pa nito.
Iginiit ni Duque na saklaw ng kaniyang kapangyarihan bilang kalihim ng DOH ang paglilipat ng pondo. "Madam Chairperson, it is within my authority to effect the fund transfer. I do not deny that."
"The question is did you unilaterally decide to transfer P47.6 billion to PS-DBM?" tanong naman ni Garin na dati ring kalihim ng DOH.
Sagot naman ni Duque, "No is the answer. I'm just complying with the rule of the PS-DBM. Again, I do not want to belabor the laws that authorize the PS-DBM to procure in a state of public health emergency materials."
Sinabi ni Duque na ang desisyon ay batay rin sa rekomendasyon ng Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), na kaniya ring pinamumunuan.
"But I would like to reiterate that it is within my authority to effect the transfer because of the public health emergency where there were not enough CSEs (common-use supplies and equipment), PPEs (personal protective equipment), and other COVID pandemic supplies," sabi ni Duque.
"So we wanted just to make sure, Madam Chairperson, that the lives of our people are protected and that the risks are mitigated from our people possibly then at the height of the pandemic that nobody knew about, that would have resulted in the millions of infections and countless deaths of our healthcare workers," dagdag pa nito.
ARVIN SORIANO (Ll.B) – NEWS CONTRIBUTOR
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