THE former head of the Procurement Service (PS) of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Lloyd Christopher Lao, denied favoring foreign companies over local manufacturers in sourcing medical supplies for the government's coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic response.
During the resumption of the Senate blue ribbon committee investigation on the irregularities in the use of Covid-19 funds by the DOH, Lao said they awarded the contract to Pharmally Pharmaceuticals Corporation in April 2020 because they were the only company with the capability to immediately deliver the items at such a huge volume.
He said they helped prevent Covid-19 deaths of health workers since the government immediately provided them with personal protective equipment (PPE).
Lao said the Pharmally deal was also aimed at giving the EMS Components Assembly Inc. a leeway of three months in order for them to set up their factory and start the manufacturing of the supplies.
“When we have the contract with EMS already, we stopped procuring from any entity already except for EMS so nagantay kami sa kanila. On June 1, nag-deliver sila ng one million pero kulang yon so nag-order kami ulit, ang available si health wellness at 600,000 pieces. On hand stock ang lahat ng inoorder namin June may shortage na,” he said.
He said the problem started in October 2020 when the DOH implemented a price freeze on face masks at P9 per piece.
Lao said they asked EMS if they can still lower their price to comply with the price ceiling set by the DOH.
He said they also purchased 200 million pieces of face masks from other local manufacturers from October to December 2020 in order to keep up with the demand.
Senator Risa Hontiveros however cited that sometime in February when discussion about the possible pandemic started, a manufacturer of surgical face mask based in Bataan said they could produce two million pieces each month. She said the firm’s sister company can also produced PPEs
“So ibig sabihin may capacity, nung nanawagan ang gobyerno nag step up itong mga Pilipinong kumpanya bakit hindi itinuloy-tuloy yon para mas na-survive natin ng mas maayos itong pandemya kasama ‘yung mga Pilipinong kumpanya at Pilipinong mangagawa,” she said.
Earlier in the said hearing, Ferdinand Ferrer of the EMS said the PS will put on hold their delivery of face masks due to “enough inventory.”
The EMS was awarded a P1.3 billion contract by the PS for the delivery of 100,000 pieces of medical grade face masks worth P13.50 each.
The contract, however, finished at P523 million after the PS asked them to lower the price of their product to match the other suppliers.
In April 2020, the Pharmally bagged an P8.68 billion contract from PS for the procurement of medical supplies such as face masks, Covid-19 test kits and PPE sets for the DOH. The price of their face mask was at P22 to P27 each while the 10-piece set PPEs was at around P1,700.
Senators slammed the PS for “prioritizing” a foreign company instead of supporting local manufacturers which may boost labor and employment amid the pandemic.
Commission on Audit (COA) chairperson Mike Aguinaldo said the face masks bought by the PS-DBM was stuck in warehouses because hospitals refused to buy from them because their prices are high.
He said there was a failure of inventory management on the part of the PS.
“So in short mister Aguinaldo sobra ang bili nila sa Pharmally and others, Pharmally had the big bulk nung nabili na ang sa Pharmally puno na ang inventory kaya nung pmasok ‘yung Pilipino na kumpanya chinane nila hindi na sila makabenta kaya ang EMS pumayag na na ibaba na ang presyo nila na two pesos and 35 centavos,” said Senate blue ribbon committee chairman Richard Gordon.
“Masakit yun ha because pinapasok sila at 13 pesos kahit na tignan mo ang comparative rate sila ang pinakamababa pero sa dami ng kinuha nila... bumaha ng produkto kaya nalugi na yung mga tao sa pera na sana umabot sakanila pero hindi umabot,” he added. (SunStar Philippines)