Photo Release

Gordon deplores exclusion of Ph suppliers: Sen. Richard Gordon, during the continuation of the Blue Ribbon Committee inquiry into alleged anomalous transactions on the purchase of pandemic supplies Thursday, November 4, 2021, deplores the exclusion of Filipino manufacturers to favor Chinese companies in the procurement of supplies for government’s COVID-19 response. Committee chair Gordon said the Coalition of Filipino Manufacturers of PPE (personal protective equipment) during last week’s hearing testified how local suppliers were left out. Gordon said this is one of the findings of the committee, which is a violation of the Bayanihan law mandating preference for local suppliers. The senator also proposed a measure that will require the purchase of supplies from local manufacturers not only for emergency situations. He said government should have a list of Filipino suppliers and should be able to capacitate local suppliers to manufacture needed supplies. “There were local suppliers after all, specializing in masks and PPEs and, at the last hearing, we were informed of their sufficient capacity to supply. Why did PS-DBM (Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management) did not take advantage of this?” Gordon said. (Screen grab/ Senate PRIB)