Duque posts bail, vows to challenge graft rap

MANILA, Philippines — Former health secretary Francisco Duque III has posted bail before the Sandiganbayan for his graft case in connection with alleged irregularities in the Department of Health (DOH)’s transfer of P41.46 billion to the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service (PS-DBM) at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

In a message yesterday to The STAR, Duque said he posted the required P90,000 bail before the Sandiganbayan First Division last Sept. 4, in exchange for his provisional liberty.

“I’ve posted bail on Sept. 4 immediately after I found out about the filing of the case before the Sandiganbayan,” Duque said, as he vowed to challenge the validity of the case, which was filed by the ombudsman in August.

“I will be pursuing the remedies available to me to question the resolution of the ombudsman, not only in the Sandiganbayan, but also with the Supreme Court,” he said.

Duque’s co-accused, former PS-DBM executive director Lloyd Christopher Lao, had also posted bail shortly after he was arrested by the tracker teams of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Davao City on Wednesday.

Filed by the ombudsman on Aug. 27, the case against Duque and Lao involves an alleged violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, a provision which prohibits public officials from giving unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference to a private party or from causing any party, including the government, undue injury.

Based on the charge sheet, the fund transfer – totaling P41,463,867,117.52 – was not supported by any valid memorandum of agreement between the DOH and PS-DBM.

The ombudsman said the fund transfer “did not hasten” the implementation of the procurement project. The ombudsman said its investigation also revealed that the DOH “had the capacity and proficiency to undertake the procurement” itself.

Furthermore, the ombudsman said the DOH transferred the funds despite lack of certification that the PS-DBM had already liquidated the funds it previously received from the agency.

The ombudsman said this was “in utter disregard” of procurement laws and government auditing rules.

The ombudsman said its investigation also revealed that the medical supplies and equipment needed by the DOH – such as test kits, mechanical ventilators, surgical masks, personal protective equipment, nucleic acid extraction machine and cadaver bags – were not even in the inventory of the PS-DBM.

“Lao accepted said transfer of funds by DOH for the procurement of COVID-19 medical supplies and equipment that are not available in the PS-DBM inventory and notwithstanding non-compliance with aforementioned procurement law, rules and issuances as well as the aforecited accounting and auditing rules on transfer of funds from one agency to another,” the ombudsman’s charge sheet read.

Lastly, the ombudsman said that because of the unlawful fund transfer, the government suffered undue injury in the amount of P1.658 billion, representing the four percent service fee that the PS-DBM charged the DOH for supposedly carrying out the procurements.