OFW FORUM Much to his credit, Saudi Arabia-based Eli Mua is unrelenting and tireless in his single-minded crusade for the proposed Department of Overseas Filipino Workers (DOFW) to be established before President Rodrigo Duterte bows out of office in June next year. A Mindanaoan like Duterte, Mua...
While she agrees that the deficiencies flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA) do not equate to corruption, former COA commissioner Heidi Mendoza said the public cannot be blamed for suspecting anomalies in the government's spending of resources, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Former COA...
"Hinay-hinay po sana (Let's calm down)." This was Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque's appeal to the public amid the publication of the preliminary reports of the Commission on Audit (COA) on the spending of different agencies, saying these were initial observations that can still be answered by...
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said on Thursday, August 19, that he was not convinced with Health Secretary Francisco Duque III's explanations on the issues in his department's in handling COVID-19 response funds. Senate President Vicente Sotto III (Senate PRIB) "No I'm not," Sotto said in a...
It's the word of the Department of Health (DOH) against that of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on the issue of delayed benefits for health care workers. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (PCOO) At the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee's inquiry on the government's delayed compensation...
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV accused President Duterte of twisting the story on the Commission on Audit (COA), which recently flagged the Department of Health (DOH) for “deficiencies” in the use of some P67.3 billion of COVID-19 funds. Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV (MANILA BULLETIN...
House Deputy Speaker and Antique Rep. Loren Legarda has expressed disappointment over the initial findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) on the Department of Health's (DOH) handling of the COVID-19 response funds. Antique representatiive and House Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda (Courtesy of Rep....
President Duterte said that it is “impossible” to steal P67.3 billion as he defended the Department of Health (DOH) after the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged “deficiencies” in the agency’s handling of the COVID-19 funds. President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his regular address to the...
Secretary Francisco Duque III is still not "off the hook" from the reported audit deficiencies of the Department of Health (DOH), even as the state auditors said that they have yet to find that COVID-19 funds were lost to corruption, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said on Monday, August 16....
The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee will be delving next week into the complaints on the Department of Health's (DOH) delayed release of allowances and other benefits for health workers. Senator Richard Gordon (MANILA BULLETIN File Photo) Senator Richard Gordon in a radio interview Saturday, August...
The Commission on Audit's (COA) observations on the Department of Health's (DOH) disbursement of COVID-19 funds should prompt the "right people" to act, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said on Friday, August 13. Senate President Vicente Sotto III delivers a speech in the opening of the third...
Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday, August 12, lamented the P67 billion in misused and unspent funds that state auditors found in the Department of Health’s (DOH) COVID-19 response budget since the government keeps on saying it has no money to procure vaccines, provide cash aid, and pay...