The chairman of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability on Wednesday vowed that the panel will be “fair, balanced, and legal” in reporting the findings of its inquiry on the procurement of alleged overpriced Covid-19 supplies.
In an online media forum, DIWA Party-list Rep. Michael Edgar Aglipay said the committee report on the recently-concluded House hearing would be completed either next month or December, noting that the panel would not rush its findings so it could cover all bases.
Aglipay cited that under the House rules, the panel has 60 days to release the report for review and a vote by its members.
“I assure the public that the committee will be fair, balanced and legal — meaning we will take everything legally,” Aglipay said. “It’s minimum of one month. So ibig sabihin by November 4 pero hindi namin mamadaliin, (so that means by November 4 [we could release it], but we are not going to rush it) and maximum of 60 days or by December 4.”
He said the committee report would contain the statement of facts, arguments, legal bases, conclusions, and recommendations.
“‘Di tayo magpapadala sa emosyon, ibabase natin sa law dahil sa ilalim ng Constitution lahat accorded ng right to due process of law (We won’t be swayed by emotions. We would base everything according to law, because under the Constitution, everyone is accorded the right to due process of law),” he said. “Alam nyo very serious itong topic na ito dahil inaantabayanan ng mga mamamayan natin kung meron bang violation o merong nandaya sa gobyerno (The topic is very serious because the public is monitoring this to determine whether there are irregularities done by the government).”
The House committee has conducted four hearings before terminating its motu proprio inquiry into the government’s Covid-19 procurement last October 4.
He said the committee has already ruled out the issue of overpricing, as it was already clarified by Commission on Audit chairman Michael Aguinaldo that there was no incident of overpricing, but instead the flagging in its report was due to inventory management through the transfer of funds.
He said the committee report will tackle “all allegations of fraud and abuse” in the procurement of Covid-19 supplies by the Department of Health (DOH), through the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management.
Source: Philippines News Agency
