Wasted funds, incompetence, and procurement woes

If it isn’t corruption, as Health Secretary Francisco Duque III insists, then clearly it is incompetence at the highest level and, in these troubled times, a very costly one.

What we have now are expired medicines, unused medical equipment, rising body count, and a still unresolved COVID-19 pandemic.

“These funds could have saved many lives,” said the Commission on Audit (COA) after flagging the Department of Health for wasting billions supposedly for our COVID-19 response.

Indeed, incompetence means added threats for all of us in this time of a pandemic. It can kill not one, not two, not three, but tens of thousands in this already very weary nation.

The COA report must be taken seriously and our health authorities have a lot of explaining to do.

Leadership in health

The DOH has three specific roles: leadership in health; enabler and capacity builder; and administrator of national and sub-national health facilities and hospitals serving as referral centers, direct services for emergent health concerns requiring complicated technologies and assessed as critical for public welfare, health emergency response services, and referral and networking systems for trauma, injuries, catastrophic events, epidemics and other widespread public danger.

And yet...

According to the COA, the DOH had a total appropriation of P205.621 billion, while total allotments it received amounted to P200.85 billion.

Of the total allotments, about P176.214 billion was obligated and P141.718 billion was disbursed, leaving unreleased appropriation, unobligated allotment, and unpaid obligation amounting to P4.76 billion, P24.641 billion, and P34.496 billion, respectively.

“Various deficiencies involving some P67.323 billion worth of public funds and intended for national efforts of combatting the unprecedented scale of the COVID-19 crisis were noted. These deficiencies contributed to the challenges encountered and missed opportunities by the DOH during the time of state of calamity/national emergency, and casted doubts on the regularity of related transactions,” COA said.

Drugs, medicines, and other types of inventories with a total value of P95 billion were nearly expired or have expired due to deficient procurement planning, poor distribution, and monitoring system, the DOH said.

“This recurring problem of the DOH has resulted in indiscriminate wastage of government funds and resources, and impedes the attainment of DOH’s mission of leading the country in the development of a productive, resilient, equitable, and people-centered health system,” COA noted.

Problematic government procurement

Aside from incompetence, such inefficient use of public funds may also be due to the government’s problematic procurement process.

Some suppliers told me that sometimes they have no choice but to supply medicines that are about to expire because these are cheaper. Agencies such as the DOH will be flagged by COA if they buy the more expensive drugs.

There are times when the approval and bidding process takes so long that by the time the medical equipment arrives, it is no longer needed or the equipment itself is already outdated, sources also said.

We’ve heard about these procurement problems all too often and these must also be addressed, not just in the DOH, but in the whole bureaucracy.

Incompetence, corruption, and a problematic procurement system are deadly.

Whichever it is, the DOH has a lot of explaining to do. This is all appalling and it is such a grave injustice to everyone who died because of the pandemic, to the loved ones they left behind, to the thousands left jobless by the lockdowns, and to you, me, and everyone we know.

We haven’t forgotten that it was also our health authorities who failed to trace patient zero and bungled the vaccine procurement early on.

Against this backdrop, ordinary Filipinos continue to suffer. Hapless citizens are lost trying to navigate through the pandemic; some are still desperately waiting for their vaccines and cash aid while eking out a living despite the hardships brought about by the lockdown. The situation is worse in far-flung provinces where government help is far and few between.

Even big businessmen are quietly heaving big sighs of frustration. Their businesses, after all, continue to suffer amidst the lingering pandemic.

How do you solve a problem like Secretary Duque then? Your guess is as good as mine. Some sources said he would resign soon because he plans to run for public office, and not really because of all the issues thrown at him.

But clearly, he or whoever succeeds him must address the incompetence, inefficiencies, and bureaucratic cobwebs at the DOH.

Otherwise, if we let public distrust degenerate into public distress over the government’s incompetence, this mounting tension and suffering will find a release valve someday soon.

Other countries are already in disarray, with citizens taking to the streets to protest against their governments’ incompetence in handling the pandemic.

That’s not an impossible scenario here in the Philippines. The dark clouds hanging over us could generate a lashing, sweeping thunderstorm of public unrest and sink us deeper into this crisis.

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com