President Duterte said that the recent audit reports on various agencies under the Executive Department will not distract the government from performing its duties, especially in saving the lives of the people amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Duterte made the statement after the Commission on Audit (COA) cited deficiencies in the 2020 spendings of different agencies such as the Department of Health (DOH), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
In his pre-recorded public address aired Saturday morning, August 20, President Duterte said the government should not be affected or swayed by the "conundrum" surrounding the COA reports.
"We should perform our sole duties to the people, including transparency and accountability," he said.
"If you think these events surrounding the audit reports on various agencies under the Executive Department will distract us from our mission to save our people, then you are wrong," he added.
The President asked agencies involved, particularly those the DOH, to just carry on with their duties.
"Several personalities have reacted to my statements about protecting Duque and the DOH. To all of them, I have to say you are just adding more noise to the already difficult situation," he said.
"I want our agencies to rather focus on our response against the pandemic. Government should not be affected by-- Lahat kayo sa gobyerno, 'wag na kayo makinig (All of you in the government, do not listen)," he added.
Duterte, meanwhile, assured the public that he remains committed to making sure that the country will win the fight against the pandemic.
"I am committed to leading our nation out of this pandemic with the help of our frontline institutions so that we can be victorious and we can be ready for a bigger future," he said.
On Friday, President Duterte expressed confidence that with the help of the public in fighting the pandemic, the Philippines will see better and brighter days ahead.
On August 20, Vice President Leni Robredo urged concerned agencies and officials to not take the reports of the COA the wrong way, saying these were actually opportunities to be more transparent when it comes to government spendings.
"Hindi natin dapat minamasama ‘yung mga reports na ‘to. In fact, binibigyan pa nga tayo ng opportunity na sumagot, na magpaliwanag, na maging mas transparent sa systems and processes natin (We shouldn't take these reports the wrong way. In fact, we are given the opportunity to respond, explain, and be more transparent on our systems and processes)," she said.
"So when these reports and audits come—we must respond. Kasi we owe it hindi lang sa COA, pero mas importante, sa taumbayan (Because we owe it not just to COA, but more importantly to the Filipino people)," she added.