President Duterte told his Cabinet officials to ignore the reports by the Commission on Audit (COA) and continue with their work in the pandemic response because nothing will come out of such reports.
“Huwag mong sundin 'yang COA. P***** i** 'yang COA-COA na 'yan. Wala namang mangyari diyan (Don’t follow that COA. F*** that COA-COA. Nothing will come out of that),” he said during his weekly late night Talk to the People.
The President was incensed that the state auditors will publish reports in the media flagging certain government agencies for irregularities in the procurement process. This makes it look like there was corruption in these agencies when the flagging was just to remind the departments to submit paperworks.
Last week, COA flagged the Department of Health (DOH) for “deficiencies” it found in the spending of over P67.3 billion in COVID-19 funds.
“Hindi lang ito pati 'yung DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) may nababasa ako, pati 'yung kay Secretary (Carlito) Galvez, mayroon din (It’s not just this, I’m reading something about the DILG, with Secretary Galvez, there is) flagged, puro (too much) flagged, flagged, flagged down. Stop that flagging, g**d*** it,” the Chief Executive said, addressing the state auditors who also clarified that the report on the DOH did not say it found links to corruption.
READ: Duterte defends DOH from COA audit, says P67.3-B COVID-19 funds not missing
“You make a report. Do not flag and do not publish it because it will condemn the agency or the person that you are flagging. The flagging is spelled f-l-a-g-g-e-d. Ang ginagawa ninyo (What you are doing) is f-l-o-g-g-i-n-g. Flogging, hampas (hit),” Duterte added.
He blamed the state auditors, saying that the country will never win against COVID-19 “by the way you are also behaving.”
The President asked COA to give the government “a little elbow room to move” and “make (an) emergency purchase” because this pandemic “is a matter of life or death.”
Duterte said he specifically dislikes the state auditors flagging government agencies because it is now the “political season” with every “newspaper” criticizing the government “as if they are the epitome of propriety and decency.”