News Roundup 19 September 2021
Sep 19, 2021 • 5 min Read
DOH logs 19,271 new COVID-19 cases, two labs without data | PHILSTAR.COM – Health authorities reported 19,271 more coronavirus infections on Sunday, bringing the national caseload to 2,366,749. In its latest bulletin, the DOH reported a positivity rate of 25.1% out of 70,571 tests.
- Active cases: 178,196 or 7.5% of the total
- Recoveries: 25,037, bringing the number to 2,151,765
- Deaths: 205 newly recorded, or now 36,788 in total
According to the Department of Health, two labs were not able to submit their tallies for Sunday’s final count. However, the DOH added that the labs only made up 0.7% of all samples tested and 0.9% of all positive individuals. The country continues to battle a resurgence in cases driven by the hyper contagious Delta variant, which has ravaged neighboring countries. It has been 551 days since the first enhanced community quarantine was hoisted over some parts of Luzon, good for the world’s longest quarantine.
COA, Ombudsman urged: Probe PS-DBM deals with Pharmally | PHILSTAR.COM – Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon urged the Commission on Audit on Saturday to conduct a special audit and the Ombudsman to conduct its own investigation into the controversial multibillion-peso deals between the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management and Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. The Senate Blue Ribbon panel’s ongoing probe on government spending flagged by the COA has so far focused on the DBM’s procurement service and Pharmally, which it awarded the largest pandemic contracts despite having a paid-up capital of just P625,000 — an amount Drilon said was “obviously insufficient to assume the huge risk for the delivery of billions worth of procurement.” In a radio interview late Saturday night, Drilon maintained that there is reason to believe that there was overpricing of facemasks and other medical supplies, adding that a special audit is necessary as the COA’s regular annual audit may not be sufficient to establish overpricing. Drilon said both the Ombudsman and COA can subpoena documents and witnesses. “Because of the many that come out of the Blue Ribbon investigation, I am asking for it and maybe it’s time to have a special audit so that they can see and confirm what comes out of the senate’s investigation,” Drilon said in mixed Filipino and English. “They have the power to view and examine the documents individually,” he added. In a separate statement, Drilon said the Ombudsman can form a fact-finding team to probe the purchase of overpriced medical supplies from Pharmally by PS-DBM.
Dinky Soliman, former Social Welfare secretary and civil society leader, dies | INQUIRER.NET – Former Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Juliano-Soliman died on Sunday at the age of 68. Known for her signature single-streaked hair color, Soliman made a name for herself as a civil society leader and a crusader against corruption in government. Soliman served as secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and one of the original Cabinet members under the administration of the late President Benigno Aquino III. She also held the same post in the government of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, but resigned in 2005 in light of the Hello Garci scandal. She was among the Cabinet secretaries who resigned en mass at the time amid allegations of corruption. Prior to her work in government, she studied Social Work and Non-Profit Management at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at the Harvard University. Several government officials that Soliman was close with and had worked with have expressed their condolences to the bereaved family. “May napakalungkot na balita na natanggap na si former DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman, namayapa na ngayong umaga. Very, very close kami kay Secretary Dinky,” Vice President Leni Robredo said in her weekly radio program. Robredo said it was Soliman who personally went to Naga to accompany them while the search for the remains of former Interior secretary Jesse Robredo were being searched. Jesse, the Vice President’s husband, passed away in 2012 in an aircraft accident. “Hindi kami magkakilala pero siya ‘yung pumunta sa Naga para samahan kami ng mga bata habang hinahanap pa ‘yung asawa ko,” Robredo said. “Nakakalungkot na balita ‘yung pagpanaw niya. Napakabuting tao,” she added. Former Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, in a Facebook post, said that he would miss his “dear friend.”
Former COA chief notes DOH role in overpriced supply purchases | Manila Bulletin – The Department of Health (DOH) played a major role in the procurement by government of allegedly overpriced face masks and face shields at the height of the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Former Commission on Audit Chairperson Grace Pulido Tan pointed questionable DOH actions that she believes merit audit ‘red flags” in the procurement transactions. During the webinar entitled “Confronting Corruption”, Pulido-Tan described as questionable the decision of Health Secretary Francisco Duque to transfer to the Procurement Service -Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) of P42 billion in DOH funds for the purchase of vital COVID-19 supplies such as the face masks, face shields and personal protective equipment (PPEs). Held on Saturday, Sept. 18, the webinar was organized by the Public Policy Research Group and civil society group Soul Ph, both headed by former Senator and Manila Bulletin columnist Joey Lina and the Rotary Club of Makati Central. “Why would DOH decide na DBM ang bumili para sa kanya (to procure for itself). DOH has its own procurement service,” she pointed out. The former COA chief said the DOH procurement agency has enough personnel to do the purchases, adding that, unlike nurses and doctors, they are not medical frontliners.
