Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Thursday pressed for a Senate inquiry into the Commission on Audit’s (COA) discovery of mismanagement in the Department of Health’s (DOH) handling of P67.32-billion worth of funds for COVID-19 pandemic response, saying the deluge of deficiencies that the COA uncovered are “alarming and disturbing.”

“It is imperative that we examine closely the DOH’s use of billions of pesos in COVID-19 response funds given the findings of the COA and the corruption allegations that hounded the agency’s procurement of various COVID-19 equipment and supplies,” Drilon said in a statement.

“We heard of corruption allegations involving the purchase of PPEs (personal protective equipment) and test kits and these corruption allegations have remained unanswered and unsolved,” he added.

Citing the COA report, Drilon said the Upper Chamber should specifically look into the P3.97-billion worth of contracts and projects with procedural deficiencies in the procurement process and lacking documentation.

“This is where unscrupulous individuals or syndicates in the government dip their sticky fingers. We must examine this especially given the corruption allegations that involved the purchase of various COVID-19 equipment and supplies,” the minority leader said.

“Who was involved in these purchases? Which agency made the procurement? Where are these people now? Are they still in the government?” he asked.

Drilon said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III’s ineptitude is sabotaging the government response to the pandemic.

“While we see a shortage of beds, PPEs, ventilators, oxygen tanks, the DOH incurred P24.64 billion in unobligated funds that could have augmented our medical resources and paid on time the risk allowance of our medical frontliners,” he lamented.

Senator Leila de Lima also questioned the DOH’s fiscal performance saying the COA’s report reveal that the lackluster performance of the Duterte government in its pandemic response is to blame for the challenges the Philippines continue to encounter.

“There can be no other image that could best represent this government’s sheer incompetence than the billions in pesos in public funds left idle in the coffers while millions of families continue to fight to survive,” de Lima said.

“But that’s just the tip of the iceberg...Just when we thought that the ₱15-billion PhilHealth scandal could not get any worse. Are we even surprised at this point?” she pointed out.

“Without question, this is not the clean and efficient government that Duterte had promised back in 2016. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. Violence, corruption and incompetence are set to be the enduring legacy of Duterte rule,” the opposition lawmaker stressed.