According to a report by the Commission on Audit (COA) released Wednesday, the Department of Health has seen some alleged lack of proper funding for the pandemic.
This was revealed in the face of the rise of COVID-19 cases in the country, particularly in Metro Manila which is now locked down due to the resurgence of disease cases and filling of hospitals.
The COA report said that this includes more than P5 billion worth of purchases made by the agency without proper documents and more than P194 million that was allegedly not in favor of the government.
It is estimated that more than P1.45 billion in donations do not have enough documents.
More than P69 million in medical equipment and supplies were also procured. Still, they were not used or were not used immediately due to reasons that can be avoided if procurement planning is followed properly, according to the COA.
“This condition affects the utilization of COVID-19 funds vis-a-vis the agency’s implementation capabilities and its response to the urgent healthcare needs during the time of state of calamity/national emergency,” said COA in a statement.
COA finds ‘deficiency’ in DOH’s handling of P67 billion COVID-19 funds
The Department of Health replied that the funds were “accounted for” and that the funds specified by the COA were complete in the documentation.
In a statement, the DOH said that although the agency acknowledges the findings of the COA, they continue to address compliance issues and deficiencies pointed out by the agency.
“The P67.3 billion is accounted for. Wala pong kinurakot, inilaan natin ang mga pondong ito para sa ating mga kababayan. The flagged issues are being addressed by the DOH. Rest assured, that the funds allotted to the DOH are all spent for the procurement of test kits, PPEs, payment of HCWs benefits, salaries of HRH, among others,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
The DOH further explained that of the P78.7 billion COVID-19 funds received by the agency based on COA reports, P68.9 billion had been used since December 31, 2020, for the government’s COVID-19 response.
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