Corruption is eating up billions of pesos in government funds that could have been used for health services, including dialysis patients in need of aid, according to Vice President and presidential bet Leni Robredo.
She said the P8 billion worth of government money paid to start-up firm Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. for medical supplies amid the COVID-19 pandemic deprived dialysis patients who badly needed the government’s help.
“Every year, we lose billions of pesos to corruption. Those billions lost to corruption could have been for government assistance for the people. There were too many huge amounts of money being lost to corruption,” she said.
“I have always been thinking, those dialysis patients who could not have their treatment could have been helped if there was no corruption,” she added.
The Senate Blue Ribbon committee earlier recommended plunder, graft and other criminal and administrative charges against Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, former government officials, and Pharmally executives.
Meanwhile, Robredo, in her sortie in Roxas City in Capiz, called on the public to think about what is really at stake on May 9.
“The election is not the same as before. It is no longer just a contest between candidates. This election, we will decide: What kind of government do we really want in the next six years?” she said.
“What we want is after the election, politics is over. It’s time to serve. It’s no longer about the color or party,” she added.