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SENATE Minority Leader Franklin Drilon has questioned alleged “overvalued” medical supplies purchased by the Department of Budget and Procurement Services Management (DBM-PS) for P422 million.
The senator said Monday that medical supplies were “too expensive compared to those purchased by the private sector.”
“There are a number of acquisitions made by DBM-PS and based on our investigation, the prices were higher compared to prices in the private sector,” Drilon said in a statement.
“Only of the three prizes that we have studied, we could estimate that the total price rose by almost 500 million. We could have saved around P 422 million in taxpayer money if we had exercised due diligence, ”he added.
At the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the budget of DBM and its attached agencies, Drilon cited, for example, the acquisition by DBM-PS from Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. of 2,000 units of coronavirus test kits for P688 million. or P344,000 per kit.
He noted that the purchase was overvalued at P208 million as a kit could be purchased for P240,000 or for a total of P480 million for 2,000 units.
He said the price of the Lifeline Diagnostics Supplies Inc. macherey nagel / nucleospin RNA prep kit was also inflated. The government purchased the kits at P108,304 each or a total of P73.1 million for 675 units.
The private sector could buy it for just P47,199 each. For 675 units, the contract could have amounted to P31.9 million, Drilon said.
He also described the acquisition of Universal Transport Medium and the nasopharyngeal swab as overrated. The Health Department paid Biosite Medical Instruments P415.6 million for a total of 1,611,000 sets or P258 per set.
Drilon said the purchase could have been overpriced by P173 million, citing the product’s market price at about P150 per set. He asked the DBM to examine the matter closely.
He warned that the price premium is a reason to cancel the contracts.
The company can also be held responsible for reimbursing the excess.
He also called on DBM-PS for failing to exercise due diligence in awarding contracts to blacklisted companies, citing the case of Ferjan Health Link Enterprises, which won a contract worth P727.5 million.
DBM said the contract had been canceled.
“While it is good that the contract has been canceled, this raises the question: Why isn’t due diligence carried out prior to the award of such a large contract?” Drilon said.
“Even though this is a negotiated / emergency acquisition, the blacklisted entities should not have been able to participate. Taking into account the failures in the selection of Ferjan, it is very possible that suppliers in a similar situation have also secured contracts with DBM-Procurement Service ”, he added.
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