Undelivered multimillion peso grants for LGU health program bared

The Madonna with Child by Francisco de Zurbaran

By Maila Ager INQUIRER.net First Posted 19:08:00 05/10/2011 Filed Under: Politics, Graft & Corruption, Health, Local authorities, local officials

MANILA, Philippines – Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III has exposed the alleged undelivered multimillion peso grants supposedly intended to support the health program in local government units (LGUs).

In a speech on Tuesday, a copy of which was furnished to reporters, Sotto revealed that a total grant of P423 million from the Department of Health was awarded to the LGUS for Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN).

But the fund, which should have been distributed to 16 regions, with each receiving P1 million, were not delivered to the intended beneficiaries, Sotto said.

“Everything looks well and good up to this point except that, Mr. President, when I started my inquiries to our LGUs, whether they received the money indicated under the Family Health program of the Department of Health supposedly allotted to them, to my astonishment, the answer is no, Mr. President,” Sotto said in his speech.

The senator specifically cited the case of Ilocos Norte where DoH records indicated that the province was supposed to receive P644, 525 in 2008, P602, 590 in 2009, and P2, 470, 279 in 2010.

“Yet, when I asked the heads of the LGU concerned, I was told they did not receive a single centavo,” he said.

“I have managed to obtain a certification that no funds were infused to the Family Health program of Ilocos Norte,” he pointed out.

Sotto said he received the same information relative to the provinces of Batangas and Quezon and Lucena City and no other key cities and provinces.

“There are reasonable grounds to believe that the funds appropriated for the Family Health program for the LGUs did not actually end up with the intended beneficiaries,” he further said.

And if indeed there were anomalies in the implementation of funds for family planning, then Sotto feared that the passage of the controversial Reproductive Health bill would just institutionalize this corruption.

“Mr. President, if this is really the case, can we afford that this continue to happen? The House of Representatives version of the RH bill enhances these expenditures, can we be assured that taxpayers' money will no longer be wasted?” the senator asked.

“There is a legal maxim that states: falsus in unus, falsus in omnubus. False in one, false in all,” he further said.

Sotto then asked the appropriate committee in the Senate to investigate the matter.

COMMENT:

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