“ONE WHIFF of corruption and you’re out.” Five years ago, then President-elect Rodrigo Duterte vowed to stamp out corruption in government.
Fast forward to today, the continued coddling of Department of Health secretary Francisco Duque and the tirades against the Commission on Audit (COA) highlights government’s continued lip service to good governance. The President has not only ordered the agencies to ignore COAs, he wants the state auditor to stop publishing initial findings that purportedly create impressions of corruption.
COA is an independent constitutional body responsible for checks and balances in the handling of public funds. It is mandated to publish its reports and is not accountable to the country’s Chief Executive.
Duque’s fumbling of the pandemic response demonstrates the height of incompetence at the helm of the main agency supposedly directing the country’s battle against the pandemic. It also sorely lays bare the Duterte government’s brazen lack of accountability, of hurling vitriol and attacks against critics (including activists exercising basic rights and in this case, COA, for performing its mandate), and promotion of widespread disinformation that paints a narrative starkly different from ground realities.
The stench extends to other agencies and instrumentalities as well. Some of these include:
* Department of Budget and Management – questioned for securing COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) and other supplies, buying high-priced ones from private suppliers that are slow moving. These are now in the depots because client agencies do not want to buy them anymore.
* Department of Public Works and Highways – COA suspended DPWH disbursements worth more than P4.2B for various infrastructure projects made “without proper and complete supporting documents.” State auditors noted that 3,283 infrastructure projects worth over PhP108 B have been delayed or are no longer implemented due to the “absence of proper coordination” with local government units and other government agencies. COA also noted that government lost over P681.9M of advance payments to contractors.
* Department of National Defense – bought P14.5-M worth of surveillance and security equipment without producing some necessary documentary requirements provided for under the Government Procurement Reform Act. It also did not submit the basis for the contract’s approved budget. COA likewise flagged the agency for its 20 unauthorized bank accounts worth P1.8B and dozens of incomplete projects amounting to P6.8B. [In 2020, COA questioned the agency for spending P6.4M for costly air-conditioning units and showers in its comfort rooms.]
* Overseas Workers Welfare Administration – was asked to explain expenditures worth P1.2M for the purchase of sanitary napkins, hygiene kits and thermal scanners, alas, from a hardware store. Upon the audit team’s ocular check of the hardware store, it was nowhere to be found.
The list goes on. And it is not only about the past year but also the previous ones, which can be listed altogether. This immoral, unjust betrayal of public trust must end. Public money badly needed, especially during these times, must not be squandered. This is totally unacceptable. We must persist to hold leaders to account, no matter their crocodile tears or expletives.
