‘Overpriced’ COVID-19 test kits under PRRD govt questioned

A SENIOR vice chair of the House committee on appropriations yesterday said there seems to be an overpricing in the procurement of COVID-19 test kits under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte (PRRD), the same observation made by some senators in the previous 18th Congress.

Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo questioned the prices of test kits during the continuation of the committee’s investigation into the alleged irregularities in the transfer of P47.6 billion of DOH funds to the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) for COVID-19 supplies under the Duterte administration.

Quimbo, an economist, noticed discrepancies as high as P500 in the prices of test kits with the same brand and type, based on the DOH’s procurement list.

“I’ve noticed there were instances when the test type and brand were the same but the prices were different, and the price difference was as high as about P500. For example, there was a price difference like P2,083 versus P1,562,” she told the panel in mixed Filipino and English.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, several senators, including Panfilo Lacson and Franklin Drilon, said the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) and swab kits for COVID-19 testing appeared to have been overpriced.

“There’s about a 500-peso price difference. It is what it is. It’s a price difference. So, I’m asking for the details on the dates of the transaction,” Quimbo said.

Health Secretary Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa, who served as special adviser of the National Task Force against COVID-19 during the previous administration, explained that the prices of certain items changed over time, the explanation given by former Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

“So, I guess we need to look at the date that some items are procured because they were changing the cost as the pandemic was ongoing,” Herbosa said, to which Duque agreed.

Duque said documents pertaining to the timelines of the transaction are with the PS-DBM, as “they were the ones who directly transacted with the suppliers.”

It was learned during the hearing that PS-DBM handled the transactions with the suppliers, following instructions and specifications from