Sunday, January 13, 2008 Deputy ombudsman orders probe on hospital’s ‘losses’
DEPUTY Ombudsman Pelagio Apostol wants a fact-finding investigation to verify allegations that over P100 million was lost via procurement fraud and other supposed anomalies at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC).
In an interview, he said he wants a copy of the 2006 Commission on Audit (COA) report, prepared by lawyer Eva Cabrera, which details how much money was lost and in what manner.
“There is supposedly a threat to the life of the auditor,” Apostol said, citing a letter-request recently submitted to the anti-graft office by the Bagong Lampara Foundation, a non-government group.
Sun.Star Cebu reported the contents of the audit report last July.
The audit report, Apostol said, will establish the facts of the case and become the basis to decide on whether or not to conduct of a formal criminal and administrative investigation.
Cited in the report was how the hospital’s management allowed cash advances beyond the established ceiling to pay for medicines, including the procurement of some P60 million worth of equipment and supplies, bought without bidding.
Likewise, it detailed how the hospital pharmacy failed to make certain sales reports, how money earned as professional fees weren’t turned over to the Bureau of Treasury and were instead used to pay off employee benefits, and how almost P1 million was paid to employees for overtime that may have been unnecessary.
Other than detailing procedural lapses, it also revealed the estimated loss of some P40 in projected income, as a result of the unauthorized practice of referring patients to private diagnostic clinics for services that the hospital could otherwise provide.
The supposed mismanagement of its dormitory was also raised.
In an earlier interview, Cabrera said it only took her “a few months” to identify and evaluate the irregularities at the hospital because “it was so blatant.”
She began the investigation in November 2006, a month before Dr. Gerardo Aquino assumed as hospital chief, and came out with an annual audit report by mid February.
Cabrera, in the interview, admitted receiving a threatening letter that she’s had recorded at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). She has also noticed an unfamiliar car sometimes following her around as she drives to and from the office.
“Human as I am, I find myself feeling concerned not only for myself but also for my family because of all this,” she said.
Cabrera’s audit was part of a regular check that COA resident auditors do in preparation for the annual audit report that they are tasked to submit about their assigned agency. (KNR)
