‘Double payment’: Did DOH buy the same face shields it already paid for?
‘Double payment’: Did DOH buy the same face shields it already paid for?
FACE SHIELDS. File photo of DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III on October 2, 2021.
(PHOTO: Rappler)
Health Secretary Duque explains that the DOH’s order using the P41 billion under the Bayanihan law was separate from the supplies bought from PS-DBM’s virtual store using separate funds from the General Appropriations Act
The Department of Health in 2020 transferred P42 billion to the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management to purchase medical supplies on its behalf. But did the PS-DBM sell to DOH the same face shields, which the agency already paid for?
Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, and Senator Panfilo Lacson asked this question during the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on Tuesday, September 7, and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III could not answer with certainty.
“Isn’t that double payment – you shelled out money to buy the items, then you buy those using your own money again?” said Lacson.
Comments (0)