Health chief urged: Prescribe accountability
'The Senate hearings have confirmed what the Commission on Audit has been flagging for years — massive wastage of medicines worth billions of pesos.'
'The Senate hearings have confirmed what the Commission on Audit has been flagging for years — massive wastage of medicines worth billions of pesos.'
Hold accountable Department of Health (DoH) officials allegedly involved in the purchase of millions of pesos worth of expired medicines, Health Secretary Edwin Mercado was urged yesterday.
“We urge Secretary Edwin Mercado to lead with integrity and transparency — to hold accountable those responsible for this systemic failure,” health reform advocate Dr. Anthony Leachon said in a social media post Sunday.
Leachon issued the call following the DoH’s budget deliberations before the Senate finance committee, chaired by Senator Raffy Tulfo.
During the hearings, Tulfo scrutinized the DoH’s proposed budget and even presented photographs of expired medicines worth millions that the department allegedly buried.
“The Senate hearings have confirmed what the Commission on Audit (CoA) has been flagging for years — massive wastage of medicines worth billions of pesos, culminating in P217 million worth of government-procured drugs expiring in 2025,” Leachon said.
“This is not just poor planning. It is gross negligence, failed leadership, and a betrayal of public trust. While millions of Filipinos struggle to afford maintenance medicines, life-saving drugs were left to rot in warehouses — and even buried underground,” he lamented.
Logistics reform needed
The doctor asked that the senator, along with Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, “sustain the momentum of reform and ensure that justice is served.”
