Duque, ex-DBM exec face graft raps over COVID-19 funds

MANILA, Philippines —  The Office of the Ombudsman has formally filed a graft case against former Department of Health secretary Francisco Duque III and former Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service executive director Lloyd Christopher Lao in connection with alleged irregularities in the DOH’s transfer of its P41.46-billion fund to PS-DBM at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Copy of the charge sheet has yet to be released to the media yesterday but Ombudsman Samuel Martires confirmed to reporters that the case, which the anti-graft body’s Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) filed at the Sandiganbayan on Aug. 27, involves the violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Section 3 (e) of RA 3019 prohibits public officials from giving unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference to a private party or from causing any party, including the government, undue injury.

Graft is a bailable offense, with bail bond usually set by the court at P90,000 for each defendant.

The case is to be raffled today to one of Sandiganbayan’s seven divisions.

In reaction, Duque said “grabeng injustice talaga” (It’s really a great injustice) in a text message to The STAR yesterday.

Last May 8, the ombudsman issued a resolution finding probable cause to file a graft case against Duque and Lao. In a separate resolution on the same date, the ombudsman also found Duque and Lao guilty of the administrative offenses of grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service – a finding that is also related to the P41.46-billion fund transfer.

Duque and Lao were meted with the penalty of dismissal from service, but since they were no longer connected with the DOH and PS-DBM, respectively, the ombudsman said the dismissal is convertible to a fine equivalent to their salaries for one year.

The complaint filed against other DOH officials over the same case were dismissed by the ombudsman for lack of evidence to establish their participation in the allegedly anomalous fund transfer.

The ombudsman’s investigation on Duque, Lao and the other DOH officials stemmed from a 2020 Commission on Audit (COA) report and the complaint filed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros and former senator Richard Gordon in 2022 following months of hearings by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee.

The COA, in its 2020 annual audit report on DOH, flagged several “deficiencies” in the agency’s utilization of P67.32 billion in COVID-19 funds, including the unspent P11.89 billion intended for the procurement of various medical equipment and supplies and payment of benefits of health workers and the P41.46 billion transferred to PS-DBM despite the lack of a required memorandum of agreement (MOA) and other supporting documents.