Health Secretary Francisco Duque III should take a cue from the statement of President Rodrigo Duterte that he would accept his voluntary resignation as a signal for him to quit his post, Senator Risa Hontiveros said Wednesday.
A day after Duterte continued to vouch for Duque as his Health Secretary, Hontiveros said the President’s statement on Tuesday also signifies an “offer (for him) to resign… to give way to somebody more competent who can steer us out of this (coronavirus) pandemic.”
“But the statement of the President keeps on changing. It seems that he is only publicly giving the Secretary of Health a graceful exit,” said the opposition senator.
At a hearing, several senators also criticized Duque for relying too much on his subordinates in answering questions during a congressional inquiry into questionable expenditures at the Department of Health.
During his televised Talk to the Nation, the President said he would accept the resignation of Duque if the latter voluntarily resigned — but still vowed to support him.
Duque did not comment on the issue while attending the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on Wednesday, even as Senator Panfilo Lacson hinted at the possibility of a “mafia” operating within the DOH as he questioned the “recurring” issue of overstocked medicines with the agency.
The President defended Duque by saying the Commission on Audit had also flagged two agencies under the Aquino administration for their supposed unliquidated cash advances and fund transfers.
But this only drew criticism from jailed Senator Leila de Lima, who hit back at Duterte for saying she and former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas were also flagged by the COA during the previous administration.
“For someone who cannot even publicly disclose and release his own SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth), Duterte’s accusation against me and Sec. Mar Roxas regarding COA’s past reports on our agencies is just plain rich in irony and hypocrisy,” de Lima, the Justice Secretary under Aquino, said in a statement.
Since the first hearing last week, Duque has been referring the questions of lawmakers either to health undersecretaries or heads of bureaus under the DOH.
This prompted Blue Ribbon Committee chair Sen. Richard Gordon to say: “Secretary Duque, I respect you, but please don’t pass it on.”
“You have to man up and answer questions yourself because that shows weakness,” he said, adding that Duque’s failure to answer questions directly gives the public a bad impression on him.
“You seem dubious because you are not answering questions forthrightly. I don’t think that is your intention, so answer the questions immediately,” Gordon said.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III also took a jab at Duque with a tweet, saying: “When you are head of Agency and cannot answer for your agency’s actions, you are incompetent!”
Last year, several senators signed a resolution calling for Duque’s resignation due to his alleged incompetence in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.
But President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly defended Duque, even calling the Health Secretary as the pandemic’s “hero” during his last State of the Nation Address in July.
Meanwhile, Lacson challenged Duque to put his foot down against the “mafia-like” activities behind the recurring overstocking of medicines and other irregularities hounding the agency.
In the same Blue Ribbon hearing, Lacson cited figures showing overstocked, expired, and near-expiry medicines amounting to P2.736 billion—including P2.2 billion in 2019 alone.
“What’s the reason for this? Why are we overstocking? Why are we buying medicines near their expiration dates? What does this tell us? I’ve been an investigator all my life. To me, this indicates that there is probably a ‘mafia’ that is well-entrenched – can’t be uprooted,” he said.
Lacson also mentioned data from COA Audit indicating a wastage of P95.7 million in 2020; P2.2 billion in 2019; P378 million in 2018; P7 million in 2017; P25.9 million in 2016; P18.4 million in 2015; P6.8 million in 2014; and P4.442 million in 2013.
While Duque said he would look into the activities, Lacson said a better approach is to do a thorough scrutiny of the unit involved in the procurement.
The senator also questioned the deficiency in the management of Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) projects involving some P4.003 billion in sum since 2014.
“This may not be an issue of corruption. But this is an issue of inefficiency,” he said.
Lacson also raised concerns on the disbursement of operating units that did not comply with rules, procedures, policies, and practices.
He cited figures indicating irregular, unnecessary, and excessive expenditures in the management of HFEP infrastructure projects from 2016 to 2020 amounting to P956.8 million.
Sen. Grace Poe also reminded Duque to assume accountability for his department during the Senate hearing.
Poe cited the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines or Presidential Decree No. 1445 that states, “The policy of the State that all resources of the government shall be managed…in accordance with law and regulations, and safeguard against loss or wastage.”
“The responsibility to take care that such policy is faithfully adhered to rests directly with the chief or head of the government agency concerned,” she added.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also stressed there is violation of the implementing rules of Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act when the DOH failed to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Budget and Management- Procurement Service (DBM-PS) to cover the transfer of P42 billion.