President Rodrigo Roa Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Matina Enclaves in Davao City on August 24, 2020. ROBINSON NIÑAL JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday he would require transactions of various government agencies to be published in general circulation newspapers to promote transparency amid the alleged widespread corruption in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
During a recorded broadcast with Cabinet officials aired Tuesday morning, Duterte said he wanted all expenses of government agencies—Covid and non-Covid-related—to be published in newspapers.
“Iyong PhilHealth, lahat, DPWH, Agriculture, DND, ipa-publish ‘yung mga [expenses] so they must prepare well in advance because I would require them to publish in the newspaper, sa tatlong newspapers of general circulation. Mamili na kayo kung anong newspaper ang gusto ninyo,” he said.
“Ipa-publish ko ito ang mga bibilhin at pagkatapos ipa-publish ko pagkatapos sa notice sino ‘yung bidders, ‘yung pangalan nila. I want them na kung saan sila nakatira… buwanan mas maganda. Makita na nila kung ‘yung pinuntahan ng pera pumunta ba talaga at nagastos at sino,” he added.
Duterte required the Cabinet to report disbursements every 15 days.
Duterte said he put the measures in place because of the PhilHealth corruption scandal: “It is never illegal to know where your money is going.”
“Maski paperclip i-publish ninyo at sino ‘yung bidder na mag-supply ng paperclip, maski isa. Isabi mo diyan sa newspaper para mabasa. So I hope that I have made myself clear on this,” he said.
“It might really cost a lot of time for the bureaucracy but if you want every transaction to be audited right away for you to peruse and understand, we can do that. I repeat, we must participate in everything that will prevent corruption,” he added. John Ezekiel J. Hirro