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Tolentino wants accountability, transparency: Sen. Francis “Tol” Tolentino presides over the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the alleged non-disclosure or refusal of the Department of Health (DOH) to release the details of the vaccine procurement contracts on the pretext of a supposedly existing Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). During Wednesday’s hybrid hearing December 14, 2022, Tolentino said the committee wanted to determine whether enough policies are in place and whether the Congress can still do more to ensure that the funds, sourced locally or foreign, can be used properly with accountability and with transparency to ensure that the people’s taxes were really used correctly. “We are not here to determine whether the price was different from other acquisitions or purchases made by other jurisdiction, we are not here to determine wrongdoing in so far as the purchases, procurement made then, and we are not here to ascribe any malfeasance, misfeasance or any violation of existing penal laws,” Tolentino said in his opening statement. “We are here to determine whether the accuracy of the P44 million wasted doses of various vaccines were really accurate and made within the bounds and parameters of what can be wasted.. and we are here to determine whether those policies can be corrected,” he added. (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)