Explain flawed tests, Duterte tells Red Cross
Updated: 1:00 am Sept. 22, 2021Malacañang on Tuesday sought an explanation from the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) over its allegedly problematic testing for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. confirmed an order from President Rodrigo Duterte to the Department of Health (DoH) and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) to probe the supposedly flawed Covid-19 testing of the PRC.”They have to test the accuracy of the testing machines,” Roque noted during his televised public briefing.He said Duterte has “actual figures” of cases that yielded positive results, among them members of the Presidential Security Group who underwent testing at the PRC’s Manila testing center.The President claimed several personnel from the Department of Finance as well as 44 out of 49 medical staff of an unnamed hospital also initially tested positive for the virus but later had negative results from confirmatory tests.”Nilabas ng Presidente ‘yan para maimbestigahan ng RITM kung bakit nangyayari ‘yun (The President put it out in the open so that the RITM can investigate why that is happening,” Roque said.In his weekly Talk to The Nation public address last Monday night, Duterte expressed concern that the allegedly faulty testing is putting a lot of people at risk.”How sure are we now in our figures in the veracity and truthfulness of the tests combined, eh, marami man rin nagpunta diyan sa (many go to the) Red Cross? How do you backtrack? If it is impossible, what do you intend to do?” he said.The President also insinuated that Sen. Richard Gordon received P88 million for his priority development assistance fund (PDAF) and later diverted it to the private humanitarian organization to fuel his political campaigns.Gordon is the current chief of the PRC.”Gusto ko malaman tumanggap ka ba ng P88 million sa PDAF mo? Pinarking mo ang PDAF mo, so you co-mingle it with the money of Red Cross (I want to know, did you receive P88 million for your PDAF? You parked your PDAF, so you co-mingle it with the money of the Red Cross),” Duterte said.”Sige ka habol ng mga taong kurap (corrupt), eh, paano ka namin hahabulin ngayon? Eh, kurap ka rin, eh (You go after those who are corrupt. How can we run after you? You are also corrupt),” he added.Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan also on Tuesday said Covid-19 test kits supplied by Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. to the government in 2020 were not only overpriced but also “substandard.”The DoH, through the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), bought the medical supplies from Pharmally.Pangilinan said the PS-DBM, with the DoH, in violation of the technical specification that requires test kits to have an expiry of 24 to 36 months, accepted Pharmally’s test kits that were due to expire in six months.He also noted that the PS-DBM procured the items at regular price when the agency could get them at 25 percent less since the test kits were nearing their expiration date.”Why wasn’t the DoH or the PS-DBM looking out for our money and making sure that we get a better discount? If it was at 25 percent [discount], we could have had an additional P1.2 billion based on industry practice,” Pangilinan said.Sen. Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros revealed that Pharmally executive Mohit Dargani worked as special assistant to a former Malacañang economic adviser, Chinese businessman Michael Yang.The senator showed a LinkedIn profile of Dargani, in which he labeled himself as “Special Assistant at the Office of the Presidential Economic Adviser.””Bakit lahat ng mga may-ari ng Pharmally may koneksyon kay Michael Yang (Why is it that all the owners of Pharmally have links with Michael Yang)?” Hontiveros asked.She noted too that Linconn Ong, Pharmally director, used to be Yang’s translator during a meeting in 2017 between Pharmally executives and Duterte.”The Pharmally-Michael Yang relationship seems to run deep,” Hontiveros said.
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