Francisco Duque III was administrator of Lyceum-Northwestern University, Dagupan City, in the 1980s-1990s. He was board director of the larger University of Pangasinan. There he must have appreciated the value of audits — of finances, performance, operations and inventories. Audits are never personal. Anchored on laws and conventions, they present in numbers and data a picture of the company.
Duque was also head of various government agencies for nearly 18 years. He was president of PhilHealth, health secretary, Civil Service Commission chairman and now again health secretary. He must be used to state audits.
All agencies undergo Commission on Audit scrutiny. Primarily answerable is the agency head. To be requested by the COA resident auditor for documents and explanations, and sometimes questioned and flagged, are normal. “Nothing to hide, nothing to fear.” Duque’s predecessors were audited too, like for the purchase of 1.8 million dengue vaccines.
Duque’s tenure at the Civil Service Commission must have reinforced in him the value of audits. For one, his agency awarded each year outstanding civil servants, among them COA personnel. For another, experts from the Institute for Solidarity in Asia audited his and the CSC’s work then, and cited them for good governance.
Away from public office for three years after his CSC stint, Duque trained as government career executive. Emphasized on graduates are accountability and integrity, tested by audits.
CSC chairmanship must have made Duque more aware than ever of COA’s importance. Since the Commonwealth, three agencies have been imbued with authority over the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. Those are the CSC, COA and Commission on Elections. (The 1987 Constitution added two more, Office of the Ombudsman and Commission on Human Rights.)
Independently they perform specific constitutional functions. Neither the President, the Senate President, the House Speaker nor the Chief Justice can command them. Their budgets and procedures are off-limits to political or judicial hierarchs.
Incongruous with all these was Duque’s tirade against COA last Tuesday at the House of Representatives: “Winarak na ninyo kami. Winarak na ninyo ang dangal ng DOH. Winarak ninyo ang lahat ng mga kasama ko dito. Hindi kami makaharap sa tao dahil lahat ang dami-daming paratang. Wala pa rin akong tulog. Ilang gabi na ito… unfair, unjust.”
Duque took personally COA’s 2020 audits of all government agencies. Upon completion last June 30 as required by law, the audits were posted on the COA website. Among the items were “deficiencies” in documentation of P67.32 billion in pandemic spending of Duque’s Department of Health. Meaning, DOH had missed the submission deadlines for certain papers. Reacting to newspaper reports, Duque stammered that he’d rush the papers within a week. Calling it an alibi, senators and congressmen quickly scheduled investigations of potential anomalies.
Majority of senators and a growing number of congressmen have been telling Duque to resign since last year. Most are his friends; a few are oppositionists. All echo their constituents’ dismay with government’s paltry COVID-19 vaccinations, contact tracing and testing.
Word reached Malacañang, likely embellished by sycophants. In his usual Monday midnight pandemic telecast, President Rody Duterte told Duque to stay put. “It’s impossible to steal P67 billion,” he overreacted to COA. “Stop that flagging, goddamnit. Do not flag and do not publish it because it will condemn the agency or the person.” He barked a second illegal order, for the Cabinet to ignore COA.
Lawmakers, doctors, lawyers, academics, workers and farmers were stunned. Taxpayers were one in reminding Duterte of his promise to stamp out corruption. Of all those angry with corruption, only Duterte was blaming auditors.
Duque’s rant before congressmen the next day reflected his state of mind. He was no longer his usual affable, optimistic, eloquent self. In Tagalog, basag na ang pula; sira na ang naturalesa. Through it all, he did not explain anything about COA’s findings, former senator, now Sorsogon governor Francis Escudero noted.
The next day before senators, budget officials blamed DOH red tape for non-payment of special allowances to thousands of frontline health workers. Recalled was Duque’s first ever counter-pandemic recommendation to Duterte in March 2020 to not impose a lockout on Wuhanese lest it offend China. Recounted too was Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin’s revelation that Duque had dropped the ball in 2020 on 10 million Pfizer vaccines from America. Previous inquiries had alleged that Duque leases a family-owned building in Dagupan to PhilHealth which he chairs. Also, that DOH buys medicines from his close kin. Should not the Ombudsman suspend him like it did eight negligent PhilHealth officials last year, Senator Grace Poe asked.
COA’s independence is being violated to suit one man. What next? At one point in the Senate hearing, Duque neglected to mute his microphone while muttering, “Nagulo na ‘yung utak ko, hindi ko na alam kung….” Senator Dick Gordon advised him to seek psychiatric help.
Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying
Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying
* * *
Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)
“Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.