doc here are some highlights of the senate investigation:
Confronted by documentation obtained so far by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearings, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed on Tuesday, September 21, there were 371,794 COVID-19 tests from nearly 8,000 test kits bought by them and the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) which had expired.
"I confirm that 7,925 test kits expired," said DOH Assistant Secretary Nestor Santiago on Tuesday, upon interpellation by Senator Francis Pangilinan.
By clarification from Pangilinan, Santiago said that depending on the brand each of the test kit is able to do 40 to 50 tests per kit.
"Based on my record, it's 371,794 tests," said Santiago.
"And in the middle of a situation where we were not testing enough...para tayong nagsusunog ng pera sa gitna ng napakaraming namamatay. (it's like we are burning money while so many people are dying)," said Pangilinan.
Pharmally sold BGI real-time Fluorescent RT-PCR test kits at P69,500 per kit. Using that pricing, Pangilinan computed a ballpark amount of P550 million in taxpayers' funds wasted on expired test kits.
"That gives us the gravity, the waste, the incompetence, the corruption that we are facing," said Pangilinan.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that it's only 3.6% of total cost so far of testing.
"Is that acceptable to you?" Pangilinan said.
"No, it's not acceptable," said Duque.
About P55? million in COVID-19 test kits bought by DOH, PS-DBM expired