Congress is set to receive a briefing from the Commission on Audit (COA) into the “deficiencies” in the management of P67.32 billion in COVID-19 response funds entrusted to the Department of Health (DOH) in 2020.
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco requested the COA briefing for members of the House of Representatives, to be hosted by the committee on public accounts, and would be held this week.
“We want to get the facts straight from COA and we are particularly concerned because the funds involved were among those allocated under the Bayanihan laws that Congress passed last year,” he said.
The Senate is set for a similar briefing when it opens its session on Wednesday, Aug. 18.
The briefing would allow House members to monitor the use of pandemic funds and develop corresponding legislation, he noted.
“The overall objective is to ensure that the billions of pesos Congress had dedicated to Covid-19 response — and any additional funds it provides in future legislation —are spent wisely and effectively,” Velasco said.
Health officials would also be invited to the congressional briefing.
“The briefing would also serve as a venue for the DOH to explain and account for the pandemic funds mentioned in the COA report,” Velasco said.
State auditors called the attention of DOH for various deficiencies in its management of pandemic funds worth P67.32 billion, including P66.28 billion that involved non-compliance with pertinent laws and regulations.
On Sunday, the DOH said it had already settled P276 million in cash allowances that were flagged by the COA report.
In a statement released Sunday, the DOH said it sent P2.4 billion to Centers for Health Development, DOH Hospitals, and specialty hospitals as provided for under the Bayanihan 2 law.
The DOH said some hospitals opted to provide benefits through cash or grocery vouchers, which COA flagged.
“The DOH took up the cause of our healthcare workers and requested the Office of the President for presidential imprimatur to allow the provision of these benefits in cash equivalents,” it said.
The request was then granted by the Office of the President under a memorandum dated June 1, 2021, the DOH said.
Meanwhile, Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera said the House would look more closely into next year's DOH budget, given the deficiencies flagged by the COA in its 2020 report.
She said the DOH would have “to account for every centavo” as lawmakers would scrutinize its budget more closely.
Vice President Leni Robredo said the DOH mismanagement of its P67 billion pandemic funds endangered lives as virus cases rise nationwide.
“We talk about hospitals that can no longer accept patients, yet we have P2.8 billion that could have been used to add more capacity.
What's the effect of poor governance? This is a matter of life and death,” she said in Filipino.
Robredo added that calls for Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to resign would not amount to anything if the system that causes the underspending for the COVID-19 response is not changed as well.