(Eagle News) – Health Secretary Francisco Duque has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the alleged irregularities uncovered in the P8.1 billion two-phase Barangay Health Station (BHS) project.
Through the BHS Project, the DOH supposedly planned to establish 5,700 PhilHealth-accredited Barangay Health Stations (BHS) in public schools in 2015 and 2016 “to ensure access of every barangay to primary care.”
Duque said he had requested the Office of the Ombudsman to conduct a fact-finding investigation to hold the corresponding officials accountable, especially in the irregularities uncovered in the procurement and implementation of the Barangay Health Station project
“I have initiated an investigation on alleged irregularities in the procurement and implementation of the School-based Barangay Health Station Project. I tried to give the persons involved the benefit of the doubt,” a frustrated Duque told reporters.
-Senate, House, PACC to conduct parallel probe-
The DOH has also submitted documents to the Senate, House of Representatives, and Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), which issued requests and subpoenas to aid their own parallel investigation.
Duque also sent a formal request to Commission on Appointments (COA) to conduct a fraud audit of the BHS project and other projects included in the P9.3 billion Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) dated December 29, 2015.
“Heads will roll. Big names, small names, past and present. There will be no sacred cows. Heads will definitely roll,” Duque assured.
-2017 COA report cites irregularities-
Duque said the task force investigating the project affirmed the irregularities cited in the 2017 COA Performance Audit Report on HFEP Projects.
The report stated that the project “was obstructed by ineligible and non-workable project sites that were not fully validated before project contracting and implementation due to absence of specific guidelines.”
The Task Force, headed by then Undersecretary Roger Tong-an, found out that only eight of the BHS have documents showing full completion. Some still lack door knobs and other minor fixtures.
Tong-an reported that the rest are still in question since the requirements to submit photos of the “before and after” the construction event which were still not complied with.
Duque noted that there were no certificates of completion, and certificates of site inspection that were submitted.
There were also unidentified sites for the construction of BHS. Because of these findings, Duque said the DOH decided to refuse to pay the bill. (Phoebe Salvador, Eagle News Service)
