Duque “discouraged” by Pacquiao’s corruption allegations against DOH

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MANILA – Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Tuesday he was “disheartened” by Senator Manny Pacquiao’s corruption allegations at the Department of Health (DOH), noting that the agency had always submitted to the efforts government audit.

In a statement, the health ministry said it was prepared to undergo another round of audits to determine where its funds had gone, and played down Pacquiao’s claims as “baseless.”

“We submit to lawmakers’ requests for information because it is part of our government’s checks and balances. I have always been a champion of good governance and the DOH has always been transparent about the use of our funds, ”said Duque.

The country’s health chief also said money from funding agencies is not going directly to the agencies.

The statement came after Pacquiao named the DOH first on its list as the most corrupt government office in the country, citing purchases made for overpriced personal protective equipment and test kits at the height of the country’s fight against COVID-19.

“Are you ready Sec.” Francisco Duque to display the sum of your expenses? Where did the money we owed for the pandemic go? ” He asked.

(Sec. Francisco Duque, are you prepared to report all your expenses? Where has the money borrowed for the pandemic gone?)

But Duque said he was ready and would show where the vaccine loan money was.

The government official also cited reports they submitted to the Senate and other relevant government agencies on the matter.

“Our debt for the vaccine has already been explained by the finance ministry at the Senate Committee of the Whole hearing – funds owed go directly to the vaccine manufacturer through the funding agency,” he said.

(Our vaccine loans were explained to the Ministry of Finance during the Senate hearing, and we explained that our funds went directly to the vaccine manufacturer)

According to the ABS-CBN investigation and research group, in early April this year, total government loans in response to the pandemic swelled to 754 billion pesos.

The 58.5 billion pesos in COVID-19 vaccine loans include three recent loans, all signed in March, from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (AfDB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). They represent only 8% of total government loans for the COVID-19 response to date.

Meanwhile, this is not the first time the DOH has faced corruption allegations.

In September last year, the Senate recommended the filing of embezzlement and corruption charges against Duque and other officials for alleged corruption at the Philippine Health Insurance Corp (PhilHealth).

Senators said Duque, resigning PhilHealth chairman Ricardo Morales, and other executives of the insurance agency should be charged with embezzlement and corruption for the “improper and illegal implementation” of the interim reimbursement mechanism (MRI).

Funds supposedly lost in PhilHealth have already been factored in, according to its new boss Dante Gierran.

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