BUSAN, South Korea (Eagle News Service) — Health Secretary on-leave Enrique Ona will have to extend his vacation further.
In an interview with the Philippine media delegation here in Busan, President Aquino disclosed that Ona is also being investigated for three to four other procurement issues. This is aside from the purchase of the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine 10 or PCV-10, which is used for the immunization of infants and children against pulmonary disease.
The President said Ona’s extended leave will depend on the completion of the investigations against him.
He also he wanted to know when the investigation would be finished.
Aside from the PCV-10, the President said there were about three or four other issues, allegedly involving Ona that hadto be attended to
However, the President declined to discuss in detail the four other procurement matters that are being probed by the Department of Justice, through the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), saying that he did not want to alert other parties that might have an interest in the issue.
“You have seen the media war after he took a leave. It is clear there are interests who want to preserve the status quo. Why should I help them muddle the issue by telling them what we are focusing on?” Aquino said.
The President has yet to finish reading the report submitted to him by Ona last month, which had since been turned over to the NBI.
Aquino had raised issues on the decision of the Health chief to revert to PCV-10 procurement worth P833 million when the DOH had already bought PCV-13, another vaccine which is believed to be more cost-effective.
“They started with PCV-10 then went to PCV-13. It became more controversial because they went back to PCV-10 the succeeding year. PCV-13 covers three more diseases. If they changed the procurement, there must be a legitimate reason,” Aquino said.
“If you changed to PCV-13, then it must be that it is better than PCV-10. How come they decided to go back to PCV-10?” the President said. (Weng dela Fuente, Eagle News Service)
