Stressing he divested his shares from his family-owned company in 2006, Health Secretary Francisco Duque on Monday rejected allegations about his role in getting government contracts.
But the Senate’s health committee chairman, Senator Christopher Go, said he will conduct an investigation of the conflict-of-interest allegations against Duque if such allegations were “proven sufficiently.”
Go said his committee, if needed, would investigate allegations that a company owned by Duque’s family had been awarded contracts worth millions of pesos at the Health department that Duque now heads.
“If there’s a conflict of interest, I will investigate it. If it will be proven sufficiently that there is really a conflict of interest in his work as secretary, if it needs to be investigated, it would be investigated,” Go told reporters.
In a privilege speech delivered Monday night, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Duque’s company bagged two government contracts to supply medicine to public hospitals after being appointed Health Secretary.
He said two supply contract that Doctors Pharmaceuticals Inc. got lasted until October 2017, when President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Duque.
However, Duque said he “had nothing to do with all of these contracts” because he divested from the company in 2006.
“I divested, so how can there be conflict of interest? That is pure conjecture and speculation. For me, it’s under the law that you have to divest if you know there is a potential conflict of interest,” Duque said.
He said DPI had a contract with Philippine International Trading Corp. Pharma Inc., which he said was under the Department of Trade and Industry and not the Department of Health.
But he said he would have to check the dates of the DPI’s contracts with PITC Pharma Inc.
Duque also said he was not involved in the affairs of the family firm during his time as a private citizen as he was “too busy” managing his family’s university in Dagupan.
“I’m too busy in Dagupan. We have A university in Dagupan where I served for almost two and a half years that consumed my time. This is in Taguig, so there was no time,” he said.
According to Lacson, the discovery of the ownership of the building in Dagupan being leased by PhilHealth had opened up yet another Duque-owned can of worms. It is called DPI, a drug manufacturing company located at #8 Veterans Center West Bicutan in Taguig City owned by the Health secretary.
“Based on our data sourced from the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System [PhilGEPS], DPI, with active Platinum membership, is an accredited corporation that bids for government contracts primarily with the Department of Health since Year 2005,” Lacson said.
“Ask a moron if there is something wrong with this situation, and surely, that moron will give you the correct answer, Mr. President.”
Lacson said his office was able to acquire the General Information Sheet of the company covering a 10-year period from 2008 to 2018.
Under the list of Directors, Officers and Stockholders of Doctors Pharmaceuticals Inc. are very familiar surnames: Cesar T. Duque, Chairman with 60 percent shares; Joyce Ma. Duque-, Treasurer with 20 percent; Dr. Luz Duque-Hammershaimb, President with 10 percent; a certain Leon S. Guerrero, Corporate Secretary with 8 percent (please let us know if this is you, Senator Lapid) and Ma. Theresa SP Castro, Chief Accountant with 2 percent.
“Evidently, Mr. President, only 10 percent of the total shares belong to the non-Duque personalities from the list provided,” Lacson said.
“First we ask, Mr. President, is it just a mere coincidence that Doctors Pharmaceuticals Inc. became an accredited government contractor and supplier in the same year that Secretary Duque was confirmed by the Commission on Appointments as Secretary of Health during the Arroyo administration in 2005?”
Lacson said they had noted a number of suspension and product recall orders released by the Food and Drug Administration to Doctors Pharmaceutical, Inc.
He said his happened during the incumbency of former Health Secretary Janette Garin, who was also Acting Director-General of the Food and Drug Administration in a concurrent capacity.
“In fact, I asked her if she knew at that time that she was suspending a Duque family-owned corporation. She did not,” Lacson said.