Rama eyes speedy release of payment to pharmacies

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama wants to speed up the release of payment to pharmacists who have suspended the dispensing of medicine to the beneficiaries of the city’s medical program.

In a memorandum dated May 23, Rama ordered the five certified public accountants of the City Hall to look into the delayed payments to four pharmacists.

The four pharmacies are waiting for the payment as the City Hall has yet to process the documents and vouchers of medicine claimed by the beneficiaries of the Pro-Poor Pharmacy through the City Assistance for Medicines Program (Camp), now City Hospitalization Assistance and Medicines Program (Champ).

Rama tasked the five accountants – Agnes Fajardo of DEPW, Myra Abella of MICS, Yolanda Villarias of Internal Audit Services, Mary Ann Cuevas of city budget office and Dominador Penoliar of city budget office – to render overtime services to review the process that caused the delay in the payment.

The medical assistance was suspended because of the absence of the billing statement from Pro-Poor with letters of authority and medical prescriptions presented by beneficiaries to the pharmacy at the time the medicine were received.

City accountant Marietta Gumia said the city government also has to settle bills with the two other pharmacies.

The city government’s obligation of P2.2 million to Pro-Poor was suspended by the Commission on Audit (COA), which questioned the free medicine program due to lack of documents.

The COA said some beneficiaries of the program could not be classified as poor. Auditors also conducted a random sampling that revealed that seven kinds of drugs had different prices.

Councilor Daluz said City Hall is now complying with COA’s demand but has difficulty securing the medical prescriptions of beneficiaries for medicine released last year.

He said they recovered only 20 percent of the total prescriptions and it may take months or years to complete them. — (FREEMAN)