MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said on Friday that he will bring up the issue of the Department of Health’s supposed purchase of overpriced ambulance in next Senate hearings.
News5 reported that Lacson said he will raise questions on overpriced units in the next Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing set on Tuesday, or during the budget deliberations for the health department.
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“In this instant case, I checked the official records of such procurement—one by the DOH and the other by the LGU. The difference in their purchase prices [is] too glaring to ignore,” Lacson said.
The Senate Blue Ribbon committee, led by Sen. Richard Gordon, is holding hearings into government pandemic spending. Other than DOH, the panel is also looking into PhilHealth and the Department of Budget and Management’s procure service.
Gordon earlier this week said the panel’s probe could lead to a separate ethics committee investigation into President Rodrigo Duterte and his former aide, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go,” due to their perceived ties to people under scrutiny over the purchase of supposed overpriced medical supplies.
An irate Go raised during a Senate plenary session that there may be a "conflict of interest" in Gordon leading the Blue Ribbon probe because he also sits as chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, which has entered into agreements with PhilHealth amid the pandemic.
Go went on to lambast Gordon for linking him to former Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao, who was the officer-in-charge of the PS-DBM when it awarded controversial pandemic contracts worth over P8 billion to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.
The firm in question was incorporated only in September 2019 and had a paid-up capital of just P625,00 before it bagged key contracts with the PS-DBM, according to Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and a report from Rappler.
Duterte earlier this week said the senators leading the probe are only politicking and are only “showing off.” He mentioned Sens. Imee Marcos, Gordon and Lacson.
Lacson has earlier announced that he intends to run for the presidency in the 2022 polls. — with reports from News5/Meanne Los Baños, Philstar.com/Bella Perez-Rubio