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DOH could have procured medical supplies: Sen. Risa Hontiveros, during the continuation of the virtual Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the 2020 Commission on Audit (COA) report and other issues related to the budget utilization of the Department of Health (DOH), particularly its Covid-19 expenditures Tuesday, September 21, 2021, points out that the DOH-Procurement Service could have procured the medical supplies such as face masks, personal protective equipment (PPE) and test kits instead of asking the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) to make the purchase for DOH. “While I appreciate how the Secretary (Francisco Duque III) itemized and accounted for almost all the P42 billion that was spent on medical supplies, it is apparent that each of those item-categories were health products and the DOH could have made the procurement itself. It is a mystery why they transferred the money to PS-DBM,” Hontiveros said. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)