Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel (File photo)
MANILA – A lawmaker on Wednesday said the House hearing on the government’s procurement of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) supplies has clarified some issues on alleged overpricing, ghost deliveries, and legality of the procurement process.
In a media forum, Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability was able to establish that the face shields purchased from Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. at the onset of the pandemic were not overpriced at all.
“There was a misconception that the face shields were overpriced. ‘Yon po ang perception ng tao because sa Senado lumabas nga ‘yong issue na overpriced daw (That was the public’s perception because, in the Senate hearing, there was an issue of overpricing),” Pimentel said.
Pimentel cited Commission on Audit Chairman (COA) Michael Aguinaldo, who said the issue at hand was not overpricing and no such thing was mentioned in the COA report.
Pimentel, who is the vice-chair of the House panel, said it was also established in the first three hearings that there were no ghost deliveries of the procured items.
“The items—the 500,000 masks supplied by Pharmally were inspected and properly accounted and delivered to PS-DBM (Procurement Services of the Department of Budget and Management),” he said.
He said even the front-liners who received the face masks are properly documented.
Pimentel said the House hearings had also debunked the claims that the bulk of the PHP42-billion fund utilized for Covid-related purchases under the Bayanihan 1 law heavily favored Pharmally.
“Pinakita ng mga resource persons dun that actually sa PPE, there were 17 suppliers. And then dun sa face mask naman, there were eight suppliers, karamihan dun mga local suppliers na. One of those is EMS. Hindi po na-corner ng Pharmally ‘yong bulk (The resource persons there showed that for PPE, there were 17 suppliers. And then for the face masks, there were eight suppliers, most of which are local. One of those is EMS. Pharmally has not monopolized the bulk),” Pimentel said.
He said the procurement process was legal and aboveboard based on the provisions of Bayanihan 1 law, which exempts Covid-19 goods and services from the coverage of Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.
“However, merong provisions na nilagay ang Kongreso doon sa (there are provisions included by Congress in) Bayanihan 1 that these [competitive bidding] requirements are not needed for negotiated procurement under emergency cases… Because lives were at stake. It was a matter of life and death,” Pimentel said.
He said since the country was “caught off guard” at the onset of the pandemic, the Executive and Congress had to come up with the necessary measures to swiftly address and mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the country’s health sector.
“Kasalanan ba ng gobyerno? Kasalanan ba ng Presidente o ng ahensya na tayo ay nagmamadali because at stake ang buhay ng mga front-liners natin? Wala silang mga face mask, wala silang face shield, PPE. Eh punong-puno na ang mga ospital (Is it the government’s fault? Is it the President’s fault or the agencies’ fault that we are in a hurry because the lives of our front-liners are at stake? They don’t have face masks, face shields, and PPEs. The hospitals were also overwhelmed),” he said. (PNA)
