Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin and former Department of Health (DOH) secretary Francisco Duque III (PPAB/PCOO)

House Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin lambasted former Department of Health (DOH) secretary Francisco Duque III for overseeing the procurement of nearly expired test kits during the Covid-19 pandemic, as revealed by the Commission on Audit (COA).

Citing the COA findings, Garin said the DOH—through the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM)---allowed the delivery of near-expiry commodities, including Covid-19 test kits.

“Nagulat kami sa findings ng (We were surprised by the findings of) COA and this should be acted upon because DOH never allows delivery of near expiring commodities kasi bababa papuntang barangay yan (because it will go down to the barangays),” she said during an oversight hearing with the DOH on Tuesday, June 25.

Accordingly, these near-expiry test kits were found to be more expensive compared to those found in other countries with the same brand and specifications.

“Bakit napakamahal sa Pilipinas? (Why is it so expensive in the Philippines?) You don’t use the pandemic as a reason to do corruption. And you don’t use the pandemic as a reason to abuse the government, borrow money, and let the Filipino people pay,” Garin stressed.

Garin, a former DOH secretary, pointed out that the agency would never allow the delivery of near-expiring commodities out of common sense.

“Kung expiring ang ide-deliver paano na magagamit ng tao? (If the items to be delivered are expiring, how can people use them?)” she asked.

In response, Duque said the DOH’s policy was clear in not allowing the delivery of near-expiry supplies. However, these test kits were only allowed to be delivered given the “extraordinary circumstances” during the pandemic.

“If I recall, there was some test kits na kasi bago, ang kanilang expiry six months. But because nage-evolve yung pandemic, yung mga test kits ganon din. Hindi nila masabi kung yung mga test kits na ito ay kaya one year or one and a half year kasi nga bago. Wala pang studies, wala pang historical data to show that that test kit can actually be extended yung kaniyang shelf life,” said Duque.

(If I recall, there were some new test kits, their expiration was six months. But because the pandemic is evolving, so are the test kits. They can't tell if these test kits can be used for one year or one and a half years because they are new. There are no studies yet, no historical data to show that test kits’ shelf life can actually be extended.)

“But if we talk about mga (the) regular supplies, talagang we’re strict, two years or three years na dapat bago mag-expire (we're really strict, two years or three years until it expires) before we do the necessary steps,” he added.

When asked if the DOH filed a complaint against the supplier of these near-expiring test kits, Duque said he could not recall. However, he noted that the health agency may have filed a notice or warning.

Meanwhile, Garin said the delivery schedule of the test kits was not followed, thus adding to the concern that the supplier can't meet the production requirement for the kits.

During the House Committee on Appropriations hearing, which was presided over by Garin, Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong shared his concern that there may have been vaccines that had already expired before they reached inoculation program.

Duque, however, clarified that vaccines obtained by the Philippines were not nearing their expiration. 

“Pumasok po yan ng proseso (They enter a process) and they were vetted by our Health Technology Assessment Council and the WHO (World Health Organization) also vets these vaccines,” he said.