Poe questions DOH on prices of PPEs it bought
Published Mar 31, 2020 05:23 am
By Vanne Elaine Terrazola
Senator Grace Poe on Tuesday questioned the Department of Health's (DOH) purchase of expensive personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers fighting the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Senator Grace Poe
(ROY DOMINGO / MANILA BULLETIN) Poe raised an eyebrow over the DOH's announcement on Monday that it has acquired one million sets of PPE at P1.8 billion, for delivery to public and private health hospitals that are treating COVID-19 patients. In her statement, the senator noted that the PPE sets procured by the DOH amount to P1,800 each, when these cost only from P400 to P1,000 in the market. Opting for a cheaper price but of the same quality would have only cost about P400 million to P1 billion, generating at least P800 million in savings, she added. According to Health Secretary Francisco Duque, the DOH has P225 million remaining to buy more PPEs. "Confronting an extraordinary public health crisis requires prompt response but in doing so, let us not forget the need for the judicious use of fund releases," Poe said. "Ang bawat piso na matitipid natin sa ganitong panahon ay maaari pa nating magamit sa iba pang mga programa ng gobyerno para makapagbigay ayuda sa ating mga kababayan na higit ring nangangailangan ng tulong tulad ng financial aid at pagkain pang araw-araw,” said Poe. (Every peso that we save can be used for other programs of the government so that we can give assistance to our our countrymen who badly need help, like financial aid and food to eat every day.) Poe also urged the DOH to ease the "bureaucratic bottleneck and red tape" in its distribution of PPE donations and other critical medical devices, amid the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. She also appealed for the mass testing of persons suspected to be infected with the coronavirus. "More than two weeks into the enhanced quarantine, swift action and massive testing will help accelerate collaborative efforts to contain the pandemic, a valuable lesson we could learn from our Asian counterparts who have become successful in slowing down the spread of the disease," she said. "Nagpapasalamat tayo at nagdadatingan na ang mga kagamitang mahalaga sa pagsugpo ng epidemiyang ito kaya sana ay maipamahagi ito sa mga ospital at ating mga health frontliners sa lalong madaling panahon (We are thankful that the much-needed equipment in battling this epidemic have been coming in, but this should be distributed to our health frontliners as soon as possible),” said Poe. "Subalit tulad ng pahayag ng Pangulo, hindi ito panahon ng pagsasamantala, kaya’t nananawagan tayo sa DOH na kung maaari ay iprayoridad ang pakikipag-ugnayan sa mga local manufacturers upang mas makakuha ng murang PPE (But like the President said, this is not a time to take advantage, that's why we appeal to the DOH to prioritize, if possible, its coordination with local manufacturers so we could acquire more affordable PPE)," she added. READ MORE: 1 million PPE sets worth P1.8B due for delivery to DOH for distribution to health workers
Senator Grace Poe(ROY DOMINGO / MANILA BULLETIN) Poe raised an eyebrow over the DOH's announcement on Monday that it has acquired one million sets of PPE at P1.8 billion, for delivery to public and private health hospitals that are treating COVID-19 patients. In her statement, the senator noted that the PPE sets procured by the DOH amount to P1,800 each, when these cost only from P400 to P1,000 in the market. Opting for a cheaper price but of the same quality would have only cost about P400 million to P1 billion, generating at least P800 million in savings, she added. According to Health Secretary Francisco Duque, the DOH has P225 million remaining to buy more PPEs. "Confronting an extraordinary public health crisis requires prompt response but in doing so, let us not forget the need for the judicious use of fund releases," Poe said. "Ang bawat piso na matitipid natin sa ganitong panahon ay maaari pa nating magamit sa iba pang mga programa ng gobyerno para makapagbigay ayuda sa ating mga kababayan na higit ring nangangailangan ng tulong tulad ng financial aid at pagkain pang araw-araw,” said Poe. (Every peso that we save can be used for other programs of the government so that we can give assistance to our our countrymen who badly need help, like financial aid and food to eat every day.) Poe also urged the DOH to ease the "bureaucratic bottleneck and red tape" in its distribution of PPE donations and other critical medical devices, amid the increasing number of COVID-19 cases. She also appealed for the mass testing of persons suspected to be infected with the coronavirus. "More than two weeks into the enhanced quarantine, swift action and massive testing will help accelerate collaborative efforts to contain the pandemic, a valuable lesson we could learn from our Asian counterparts who have become successful in slowing down the spread of the disease," she said. "Nagpapasalamat tayo at nagdadatingan na ang mga kagamitang mahalaga sa pagsugpo ng epidemiyang ito kaya sana ay maipamahagi ito sa mga ospital at ating mga health frontliners sa lalong madaling panahon (We are thankful that the much-needed equipment in battling this epidemic have been coming in, but this should be distributed to our health frontliners as soon as possible),” said Poe. "Subalit tulad ng pahayag ng Pangulo, hindi ito panahon ng pagsasamantala, kaya’t nananawagan tayo sa DOH na kung maaari ay iprayoridad ang pakikipag-ugnayan sa mga local manufacturers upang mas makakuha ng murang PPE (But like the President said, this is not a time to take advantage, that's why we appeal to the DOH to prioritize, if possible, its coordination with local manufacturers so we could acquire more affordable PPE)," she added. READ MORE: 1 million PPE sets worth P1.8B due for delivery to DOH for distribution to health workers