The Board of Investments (BOI) said the Commission on Audit (COA) has cleared the agency, which said they acted on prudence by not distributing the personal protective equipment (PPEs) donated by a Chinese firm to health frontliners at the height of the pandemic because the PPEs were non-medical grade.
Earlier, COA flagged the BOI for non-distribution of PPEs donated by the Panhua Group in May 2020 that remained unopened in their original boxes as of end 2021. The PPEs include 100,000 surgical masks, 49,800 PCV gloves, 900 protective gowns, 1,400 goggles, and 999 disposable faces.
During a virtual press conference, BOI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo explained that the Chinese Bureau of Customs document clearly stated that the said masks were non-medical. As such, the PPEs could not be distributed to the health frontiliners.
“The BOI exercises due diligence to make sure that the PPEs for donation will truly protect the frontliners,” the BOI said in a statement.
The BOI shared that the Chinese Bureau of Customs (BOC) asked the agency, based on their required Joint Declaration Form, to confirm that the products complied with the quality standards of China or the receiving country in this case, the Philippines. However, the BOI could not take appropriate action on such since it was not within its competence.
In its response to the China BOC, the BOI said that it could not sign the said document. But the goods arrived and were delivered on April 26, 2021.
“We are talking about products here that are meant to protect our health workers so when we received the packages, as a protocol, the BOI had to do proper checking and evaluation of the protective health gear products including its location of origination as well as its quality,” said Rodolfo, who is also trade and industry undersecretary.
“There was no intention to hold or stockpile the donations. We have to understand also that the BOI, with the intention of acting based on prudence and compliance with relevant laws, rules, and regulations, conducted due diligence first to ensure that everything is in order,” he added.
After discussing thoroughly with the COA during an exit conference in March 2022, the BOI said that the auditors cleared BOI.
Rodolfo said that as the threat of the virus subsided, the BOI distributed the products to the Philippine General Hospital through its Infection Control Unit. “Now, the hospital is using the masks in non-frontline environments by its security guards, administrative officers, and among others,” the BOI said.
Further, the agency thanks its committed collaborators for their continued support of the BOI, as saving the lives of Filipinos is the agency’s utmost priority.
At the BOI briefing, the BOI expressed its gratitude to international and local donors of protective health gear products for the country’s health care workers.
Since the outset of the pandemic, the BOI has been collaborating with the private sector to augment the supply of medical-grade, internationally-certified PPEs to government hospitals including imports and those produced by domestic manufactures.
The BOI coordinated with the various industries to ensure a steady supply of quality alcohol, medical supplies as well as major food commodities.
In addition, the Board assisted 46 companies in 2020 to repurpose their facilities to produce essential products. With such an initiative, the Taiwanese firm New Kinpo Group (NKG) decided that, through its Philippine subsidiary Cal-Comp Philippines, it would produce medical-grade face masks and ventilators for the Philippine market by repurposing some of its facilities in Southern Luzon to produce 1,000 ventilators and 2.5 million medical-grade face masks monthly to provide the much-needed support for the government’s fight against the pandemic.
To address the deficient supply of PPE in the country, member companies of the Confederation of Wearable Exporters of the Philippines (CONWEP) also commenced the local production of medical-grade PPE coveralls for healthcare workers. These samples were also submitted to DTI, the Department of Health/Philippine General Hospital, and the Department of Science and Technology for approval based on the requirements and standards for medical grade PPEs. DTI-BOI even assisted in the licensing, accreditation, and logistics needs. On logistics, Air21 and UPS provided the transfer of PPE materials from Shanghai to Clark, and for the release and transport of the materials.
This was followed by the Repurposing Manufacturing Initiative to support local manufacturers in producing critical/essential products and services.
As of October 2021, the Philippines was able to increase local production capacity to 3.2 million pieces of internationally-certified medical-grade coveralls, 56 million pieces of N88 face masks, and 2.4 million pieces of N95 face masks, and 5,000 units of ventilators per month.
For the repurposing project, the BOI worked closely with the Coalition of Philippine Manufacturers of PPE (CPMP).
According to CPMP Board Advisor Maritess Jocson-Agoncillo, “The Partnership prioritized the safety of our healthcare front liners, focusing on the importance of providing medical-grade PPEs at the height of the pandemic when its exporters were called upon to repurpose last March 2020.”
The DTI-BOI provided full support in collaboration with CPMP, focused on the technical aspects of producing PPEs according to international standards for PPE safety and use in healthcare settings. The BOI also emphasized the importance of making sure only medical-grade PPEs were distributed to the hospitals, and took the lead in critical partnerships with local donors.