DAVAO CITY — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday assured the public that the government funds spent in the fight against coronavirus-19 will be transparent and people must not worry how is it being used.
Duterte who vowed to cleanse the country against corrupt officials in a public address Tuesday morning assured as saying, “Gusto kong ipaalam sa lahat that, upon my oath of office huwag kayong mag-alala lahat ng pera diyan nagastos dito sa away ng COVID ay maa-account”.
“I will hold myself responsible for this sole and solemn duty of answering for and on behalf of the executive department of all the funds that were spent in the fight against COVID.”
He said that the National Task Force for COVID-19 will provide a detailed report on how all funds were spent and also its intended purpose.
Certain measures will be put in place to ensure transparency in government expenditures, he noted.
Duterte’s critic often laments on the manner of spending the funds, as anomalies on the multi-billion Philhealth money is being investigated in Congress.
But in his public address, Duterte also said aside from COVID-19-related funds, he also ordered government offices such as the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of National Defense (DND), and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to publish their expenditures in at least three major news outlets.
“Sa pagka ngayon sa lahat, not only the COVID mechanism, iyong PhilHealth, lahat DPWH, Agriculture, DND, ipa-publish ‘yung mga — so they must prepare well in advance because I would require them to publish in the newspaper, sa tatlong newspapers of general circulation,” said President Duterte.
“Ipa-publish ko ito, ang mga bibilhin at pagkatapos ipa-publish ko pagkatapos sa notice sino ‘yung bidders, ‘yung pangalan nila. I want them na kung saan sila nakatira.”
The members of the Cabinet should also make their own publication detailing disbursements and total monthly expenses, the President said. -Newsline.ph
