Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV accused President Duterte of twisting the story on the Commission on Audit (COA), which recently flagged the Department of Health (DOH) for “deficiencies” in the use of some P67.3 billion of COVID-19 funds.
Trillanes, a staunch critic of the President, hit the latter for ranting against the state auditors during his weekly Talk to the People on late Monday night.
“Grabe talaga si Duts (Duterte) mambaliktad, parang ang COA pa ngayon ang nangurakot. Tsk tsk. Puro pagtitimpi na lang tayo (Duts is a bit too much on twisting the story as if COA is the one who stole. Tsk tsk. We’re just really holding back),” he said in a Facebook post Tuesday night.
During his prerecorded public address, the President told COA to stop flagging government agencies because their reports are hinting that the departments are engaged in corrupt practices.
READ: Duterte asks Cabinet execs to ignore COA reports: 'Wala namang mangyari diyan’
The Chief Executive came to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III’s defense, saying that he didn’t do anything wrong. He added that he will not accept Duque’s resignation even if he offers it as some of his critics want him to.
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.
READ: COA finds deficiencies in DOH handling of P67.32-B COVID-19 funds; over P11.8-B unspent
But the state auditors also clarified that the report did not say there was a link to corruption in these “deficiencies.”
Duterte argued that what the Health department is lacking are paperworks and documents of its procurement process.
READ: Duterte defends DOH from COA audit, says P67.3-B COVID-19 funds not missing
This is not the first time the President came to Duque’s defense as he also vouched for him when he was embroiled in the P15-billion PhilHealth scam.
The embattled Health chief has been the subject of criticism since the pandemic began. Quite often, the hashtag #DuqueResign has trended on Twitter.