ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DOH says it strictly follows procurement rules amid syringe deal issue

DOH says it strictly follows procurement rules amid syringe deal issue

Published Dec 14, 2021 05:17 pm

Medical personal prepares a syringe with the vaccine BioNTech against COVID-19 at a mobile vaccination center near the Mercedes-Benz arena in Stuttgart, southern Germany, on July 31, 2021 ahead of the football test match VfB Stuttgart v FC Barcelona. THOMAS KIENZLE / AFP

The Department of Health (DOH) said it is strictly following the procurement rules and regulations in purchasing syringes needed for the government's COVID-19 vaccination program.

“We have to follow pertinent rules and regulations, even as we undertake urgent procurements and activities for the pandemic response," said DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III in a statement on Tuesday, Dec. 14.

"We in the DOH have always been and continue to be committed to good governance, a cornerstone of public health, more so now during this health emergency. Let us not put our health professionals down with baseless accusations,” he added.

The DOH issued the statement after Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Teddy Locsin Jr. said that the Philippines "dropped the ball again" with regards to a possible deal that involves “50 million syringes.”

The DOH said it “has received an offer for the supply of 0.3ml syringes” from a company. However, the agency said it “cannot act on such an unsolicited proposal.”

“There seems to be a string of misunderstandings regarding this issue. For one, the DOH is not procuring 0.3ml syringes at the moment, as our CHDs (Center for Health Development) and hospitals have been given funds to procure the available alternative, tuberculin syringes," said Duque.

"What we are procuring are 0.5ml syringes, and as part of our pool of suppliers, we invited as many suppliers as we can to get the best price for the government," he added.

The DOH noted that it "has included the company in its pool of suppliers for the emergency procurement of 0.5ml syringes." The DOH also added that it "sent out Requests for Quotations (RFQs) to the proponent company and 50 other local suppliers."

"The DOH earnestly responded to the queries of the company through its technical staff, who are well-versed in the procurement process for health commodities and are specifically tasked to address queries from suppliers,” the DOH said.

“However, when the company questioned the Approved Budget for Contract (ABC) or the maximum contract price, for being too low, the Department had to reiterate the provision on Ceiling for Bid Prices of the 2016 Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA No. 9184," it added.

“The UNICEF-procured syringes are 0.3ml, and so their price is not comparable to that of 0.5ml syringes. Moreover, DOH was able to procure the 0.5ml syringes last April 2021 at P2.38, and has used such cost for its ABC,” it furthered.

Related Tags

Department of Health (DOH) SYRINGE
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.