Duterte can’t recall COVID-19 fund transfer to PS-DBM

MANILA, Philippines — Former president Rodrigo Duterte does not remember authorizing the transfer of P47.6 billion to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) for the purchase of COVID-19 protective equipment, as claimed by former health secretary Francisco Duque III.

Duterte, however, conceded: “Maybe what I said is, ‘go ahead.’ ”

“I could not recall, for the life of me. Maybe what you are saying is true,” Duterte said during an interview with social media personalities in Davao City Tuesday night.

But he stressed: “Considering the huge amount of (fund) transfer, I would have insisted as a lawyer to put it in a memo or something.”

Duque on Monday told the House committee on appropriations that Duterte authorized the transfer because of the public health emergency.

While Duterte insists that he “cannot recall accurately” what he said, he conceded that he might have given the transfer a go-signal.

Duterte explained that since it was a pandemic, the government was hard-pressed to find a solution on how to protect the health workers.

“I ordered everybody to do everything they can do,” he said.

Salvador Panelo, who served as Duterte’s chief presidential legal counsel, said that Duterte’s directive was “regular” and was meant to protect the public from COVID-19.

Following calls to include Duterte in the probe on the government’s pandemic supply deals, Panelo said the purpose of the transfer was to do away with the bidding for the purchase of medical equipment like face masks, face shields and personal protective equipment that were urgently needed to respond to the pandemic.

He added that a regular bidding process would have delayed the immediate response required by the emergency situation and would have a “disastrous effect” on the nation.

“It is to the credit of the political will of PRRD (president Rodrigo Roa Duterte) and his decisive action, the enactment by Congress of Bayanihan To Heal As One Act I and II and the people’s disciplined response that saved the lives of millions of Filipinos,” he added.

At a hearing by the House appropriations committee last Monday, Duque said Duterte had ordered the transfer of P47.6 billion in