Bigo pa ring humarap sa House Committee on Appropriations ng Kamara ang mga dating opisyal ng Procurement Service – Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).
Ipinagpatuloy ng komite ang kanilang Oversight Hearing sa paggamit ng pondo ng Department of Health (DOH) at PhilHealth kung saan muling naungkat ang kuwestyonable umanong ₱47.6-bilyong kontrata ng gobyerno sa Pharmally.
Dahil dito ay naglabas ng Show Cause Order ang subcommittee ng House Appropriations Committee na nagsasagawa ng pagdinig laban kay dating PS-DBM Chief Lloyd Christopher Lao, abogadong si Warren Rex Liong, dating Overall Deputy Ombudsman, at iba pang opisyal ng PS-DBM.
Giit ni Lanao del Sur Representative Zia Alonto Adiong, mahalagang makadalo sa pagdinig ang mga dating opisyal ng PS-DBM upang mabigyang linaw ang mga isyu kaugnay ng maanomalyang kontrata.
“For a guest speaker whose presence is very vital, very important in the conclusion of this certain inquiry, without giving justification as to his absence, I think we can request a show-cause order. So that this committee may be appraised on what are the grounds, what are the reasons, justifications on why he – I don’t know if deliberately or not deliberately – skip this committee hearing when he was in fact given a formal invitation and there was no reply,” sabi niya.
Paalala naman ni Manila Representative Bienvenido Abante na kung muling hindi sisipot ang mga dating opisyal ay maaaring maharap ang mga ito sa contempt at ipaaresto ng komite.
Nauna nang sinabi ni dating DOH Secretary Francisco Duque na si dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ang nag-utos ng paglipat ng ₱47.6-bilyong pondo ng DOH sa PS-DBM noong kasagsagan ng COVID-19 pandemic.
Ngunit giit ni Appropriations Vice-Chair Janette Garin na dapat ay nagkaroon ng Memorandum of Agreement sa ginawang pagbili dahil ang mga medical equipment at supplies ay hindi “common use” supplies na nagkakahalaga ng ₱190-billion.
Paglalahad ni DOH Undersecretary Achilles Gerard Bravo na ang mga binili ng gobyerno sa Pharmally ay— PPE at laboratory equipment – ₱30.7-billion; general TM viral RNA, facemasks, face shields at surgical masks – ₱158-million; cadaver bags – ₱13-million; automated nucleic acid extraction – ₱42 million; RT-PCR – ₱1.9-billion; GM amplify – ₱8.7-million; surgical mask – ₱2.3-million; COVID testing kits and consumables – ₱4.1-billion; mechanical ventilators – ₱1.3-billion; various test kits – ₱2.5-billion; PPE – ₱1.8-billion; cloth masks – ₱75-million; head cover, cloth mask, gown and cover-all – ₱2.6-billion; at N95 masks – ₱2-billion.
Napuna naman ni Ang Probinsyano Representative Alfred delos Santos ang hindi pa rin na-a-account na ₱2-billion mula sa ₱47.6-billion.
“I just want to say that we need these documents to see how big the transactions are so we could also do something in Congress. This is not small money. Napakalaking pera nito na for four years na nating kailangang i-account, napakahaba ng proseso … na kailangang ayusin,” ani Delos Santos. | ulat ni Kathleen Jean Forbes
