A senator backed on Sunday calls for a special audit on the multi-billion peso contracts entered into by the government to procure Covid-19 vaccines.
"It's a huge sum of money. The first one was — if I'm not mistaken — in 2021 around P70 billion. Then in 2022 we spent almost P45 billion for Covid-19 booster shots," Sen. Francis Tolentino said.
"I support the calls for a special audit. I support him and he has enough power to conduct the audit," he added in a radio interview, referring to Commission on Audit chair Gamaliel Cordoba.
Cordoba earlier called on the Department of Health to provide the necessary documents related to its Covid-19 vaccine procurement deals.
The lawmaker stressed the public has the right to know if the funds were used properly amid reports that 44 million Covid vaccines had gone to waste.
Cordoba disclosed that state auditors have sent a letter to the DoH asking for the contacts which, then Health secretary Francisco Duque III said, were covered by non-disclosure provisions.
The DoH, however, has committed to providing CoA the documents as it was, in fact, Health officer-in-charge Ma. Rosario Vergeire who proactively sought a special audit of the loan agreements with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
"Rest assured that the DoH is well aware of the commitments that it needs to uphold as it relates to the loans we secured for the Covid-19 vaccine procurements, and that it will continue to be proactive in ensuring that our taxpayers' money is well-spent," the DoH said in a statement.
