"Senator Hontiveros should start looking into the purchase of PPEs at the time of the Aquino administration."
"Senator Hontiveros should start looking into the purchase of PPEs at the time of the Aquino administration."
Senator Risa Hontiveros should have simply kept her mouth shut. As it turned out, all her words found themselves coming back at her.
Recall how Hontiveros accused the government, particularly the Department of Budget and Management, of procuring overpriced personal protective equipment at an average price of P1,773.51 per set, saying the PPEs were bought at a P200 overprice.
However, Anakalusugan Rep. Mike Defensor turned the tables on Hontiveros, saying that her accusations of overpricing against the DBM for the purchase of PPEs are baseless. In fact, it is a mere smokescreen to hide overpricing during the previous administration.
In September 2015, during the Aquino administration, the Department of Health purchased PPEs from Rebmann, Inc. at a much higher price of P3,500.00 per set, Defensor said.
This was followed by another purchase in 2016 of the same eight-piece PPE set at a much higher price of P3,864 per set.
These prices, according to Defensor, are higher by at least 97 percent and 118 percent, respectively, compared to the purchase price of similar PPE sets bought by DBM in the middle of a pandemic at an average price of P1,773.51 per set.
This, Defensor said, could be another Yellow tactic “to shame the Duterte administration to keep the opposition’s own shortcomings in flagging anomalous transactions during the term of former President Noynoy Aquino.”
"Senator Hontiveros questions the alleged P200 overprice without proof, but she’s tight-lipped when her colleagues in the former administration bought PPEs at twice today’s prices,” Defensor said.
The solon also refutes the senator’s claim that government lost P1 billion in taxpayer money in purchasing PPEs from Chinese companies, explaining that at the time of DBM’s questioned purchases between March and May this year, the Philippines and the whole world were in panic mode and that each country was scrambling for PPEs and face masks and were fighting over limited supply.
Even first world countries like the United States and Great Britain didn’t have enough protective gear for their frontliners, according to Defensor.
Hontiveros earlier said the Chinese PPEs were at least P200 more expensive than the average estimated cost of PPE by the Philippine General Hospital, which pegged the price at P1,200 to P1,500.
But Defensor argued that there was nothing wrong in purchasing more expensive PPEs during the height of the pandemic as he insists that as the contagion was spreading at that time. With the frontliners falling ill or dying due to lack of protection, the government then had to think and act fast.
Defensor says that between March and May 2020, there was an extremely high demand for PPEs. And as China was the epicenter of COVID-19 at that time, it was prioritizing its own needs over other countries.
“Following the law of supply and demand, it was expected that prices of protective gear would go through the roof. Since it was a seller’s market, the government had no choice but to bite the bullet," he said.
In fact, Defensor readily agrees with the DBM that the Philippines was actually lucky to have secured the PPE supplies considering the circumstances at that time, when hundreds of other countries wanted to get their hands on it.
“Prices only stabilized when production capacity finally caught up with demand, but it took months before this happened,” Defensor said.
Actually, Defensor says, if DBM did not purchase PPEs at the questioned prices in March, they would not be accused now of overpricing but of criminal negligence for allowing frontliners to be infected or die due to lack of protective equipment.
With regard to allegations that DBM favored imported PPEs over local ones, Defensor took note that at the time of the questioned procurement, only one local supplier made an offer and didn’t even qualify.
Between March and May, which was the height of the pandemic, there were no local PPE makers. And it wasn’t until August, at the prodding of DTI, that several local firms were able to set up or convert their factories to produce protective gear. It took time because their products had to first pass strict safety and quality standards.
“Hence, Senator Hontiveros’ attempt to paint the government as pro-imported and anti-local falls flat on its face," the lawmaker pointed out.
If Hontiveros would really want to investigate the overpriced PPEs, maybe she can start with those bought during the time of her benefactor – Noynoy Aquino.
