There will be "no sacred cow" if a government agency or official is found liable for any misuse of public funds, Malacañang declared Thursday after the Department of Health (DOH) came under fire over alleged mismanagement of pandemic-related funds.
But for now, the President prefers to withhold judgment on the DOH until it has aired its side on a Commission on Audit (COA) report that found alleged fund deficiencies in addressing the coronavirus outbreak, according to his spokesman Harry Roque.
Roque said the health department has been instructed by the President to submit a "comprehensive and clear" response to the COA findings.
"Ang Presidente po walang sinasanto (The President will spare no one). There are no sacred cows in this administration, ‘antayin lang natin ang sagot ng DOH at ‘antayin natin ang final observations ng COA (Let's wait for the response of the DOH and the final observations of COA)," he said during a televised press briefing Thursday, August 12.
"The President is keen to read the answers dahil medyo mabigat ang obserbasyon ng COA (because the COA observation is serious). Ang nais pong mangyari ng ating Presidente, naglaan po tayo ng bilyun-bilyon para sa ating COVID response at ang inaasahan niya lahat po iyan ay magamit para mapakinabangan ng taumbayan. (The President wanted that we allocated billions for our COVID response and he expects the funds to benefit the nation)," he said.
The audit commission earlier flagged the health department for alleged deficiencies on the management of P67.3 billion funds related to its coronavirus response efforts in 2020. The report mentioned the deficiencies were supposedly due to non-compliance with laws and regulations that led to missed opportunities to address the pandemic.
The billions of pesos that were not yet released, the COA pointed out, were "counter-beneficial" to the department's efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
Roque said the President would wait for the final COA report on the DOH's use of funds related to pandemic response before further commenting on the matter. He noted that they recognize the COA is a constitutional body mandated to guard the use of public funds.
"Importante na sagutin nang mabuti ang mga obserbasyon na ito at ang Presidente naman is withholding judgment until after makasumite ng komento ang DOH doon sa kanilang tinatawag na exit conference at magkaroon ng final report ang COA (It is important to address the observation and the President is withholding judgment until after the DOH submit its comment in the exit conference and CoA makes a final report)," he said.
He said the President was also aware that some COA observations are "not sustained" when a concerned agency gives an acceptable explanation about the issue. But if COA affirms its findings in a final report, Roque said the matter is "serious" since it will form a basis for filing of charges.
"Pero ngayon po, premature pa po ah – sasagot pa lang po ang DOH. ‘Antayin po natin ang sagot (But for now, it's still premature, the DOH will still respond. Let's wait for their reply)," he said.