FORMER Health secretary Francisco Duque III and former Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) head Lloyd Christopher Lao will face graft case before the Office of the Ombudsman.
This stemmed from the allegedly irregular transfer of P41.46B in COVID-19 funds in 2020.
The resolution signed Ombudsman Samuel Martires on May 8, said the complaint arising from the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s investigation of COVID-19 procurements.
In the resolution, the Office of the Ombudsman found probable cause to prosecute Duque and Lao, saying they had conspired to effect the “illegal transfer” of P41.46 billion from the Department of Health to the PS-DBM.
It said they acted with “evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence in the discharge of their duties.”
The DOH did not need to outsource the procurement of various COVID-19 supplies to the PS-DBM and could have done this itself, it said.
“Duque and Lao, with conscious and deliberate disregard or reckless abandonment of their obligation to ensure that the applicable requirements for the transfer of funds be observed, effectively caused the DOH to abandon, in times of a national health emergency, its bounden duty to expeditiously acquire the needed COVID-19 supplies and equipment by undertaking the procurement itself though direct negotiation with the suppliers,” it said.
It said the prevailing guidelines spoke of expedited means of procuring essential COVID-19 goods. This means the DOH was expected to directly negotiate or procure from a capable supplier.
For the transfer of funds to be valid, Duque should have determined that it would hasten the procurement, and the DOH could not undertake the procurement itself. There should also be a memorandum of agreement between the parties, it said.
But none of these requirements and conditions were present, it added.
As for Lao, it said he accepted the fund transfer for the procurement of items not in the PS-DBM inventory, and despite having doubts as to its capability to perform the procurement.
“Worse, he displayed an intransigent refusal to abide by the rules despite being called to do so,” it added.
The Ombudsman also found irregularities in the use of the funds, noting that the PS-DBM subjected the procurements on behalf of the DOH to a 4 percent service fee.
“Such imposition of the service fee was unwarranted in this case given that the fund transfers were invalid, unjustified, and illegal. In fact, there was also no MOA providing for the imposition of the service fee,” it said.
It said this caused undue injury to the DOH worth at least P1.66 billion, corresponding to the service fee.
The amount could have been used for the procurement of additional COVID-19 supplies, it noted.
“Instead of abiding by the rules governing fund transfers, respondents ran around them in the guise of expediting transactions in the procurements of COVID-19 related items,” it added.
It said there were losses arising from irregularities in the procurement, including delays and deviations.
The Office of the Ombudsman also found Duque and Lao administratively liable for grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
It and ordered their dismissal from service, forfeiture of retirement benefits, and perpetual disqualification from reemployment in government service.
If they are no longer in the service, the penalty is a fine equivalent to their salaries for one year.
Meanwhile, The Ombudsman dismissed the criminal and administrative complaints against DOH officials Ma. Carolina Taiño, Myrna Cabotaje, Roger Tong-An, Leopoldo Vega, Napoleon Arevalo, Enrique Tayag, Filipina Velasquez, Lorica Rabago, and Crispinita Valdez.
