Hontiveros shows gov’t contracts for overpriced Chinese PPEs

September 30 ------ Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday showed close to a dozen contracts for the government's procurement of personal protective equipment (PPEs) from April to May, to support her claim that those bought from China were overpriced. “You want evidence? Here are 11 pieces. DBM [Department of Budget and Management] should plainly explain these contracts. Huwag nilang linlangin ang taumbayan gamit ang pagpapa-ikot ng maling impormasyon. What we need is clarity,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

The opposition senator, who repeatedly claimed that the procured PPEs during the onset of the pandemic were overpriced and that the government lost P1 billion as a result, pointed out that only four out of these 11 contracts were awarded to local suppliers.

Enclosed in her statement were copies of notices of award and contract agreements containing the following information:

- April 3, 2020

Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group Imp. and Expo. Co. Ltd.

250,000 sets of PPE at P2000 each

P446 million

- April 3, 2020

Wen Hua Development Industrial Co.Limited

42,000 sets of PPE at P1,768 each

P74.3 million

- April 7, 2020

Chunshen Company Limited

588,000 sets of PPE at P1,767 each

P1.04 billion

- April 22, 2020

Nikka Trading (Makati City)

50,000 sets of PPE at P1,980 each

P99 million

- April 24, 2020

Pacific Field Ltd.

28,000 sets of PPE at P1,900 each

P53.2 million

- May 6, 2020

Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation (Taguig City)

2,000,000 sets of PPE at P1,910 each

P3.8 billion

- May 7, 2020

Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group Imp. and Exp. Co. Ltd.

1,000,000 sets of PPE at P1,898 each

P1.9 billion

- May 11, 2020

Wen Hua Development Industrial Co., Limited

800,000 sets of PPE at P1,716 each

P1.3 billion

- May 11, 2020

Shanghai Puheng Medical Equipment Co., Ltd

200,000 sets of PPE at P1,716 each

P343 million

- May 11, 2020

Wamrus Trading Inc. (Las Pinas City)

20,000 sets of PPE at P1,898 each

P37.9 million

- May 19, 2020

Hafid N' Erasmus Corporation (Taguig City)

30,000 sets of PPE at P1,700 each

P51 million

Hontiveros said the cheapest PPE costs only P1,700, those from Hafid N' Erasmus Corporation, but the DBM signed more contracts with Chinese companies.

DBM explanation

The Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) for its part, earlier explained that the capacity of the supplier to meet the demand during that time was a factor. "Binase natin iyon sa initial capacity kasi tinatanong din namin ilan ba ang kaya mo i-supply, pag nag-bid kami. Puwede tayong mag-award kahit milyon-milyon sa local eh, the question is can they perform? Kasi based din iyan sa capital nila, they have to invest capital," Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao said.

"Di lang ho ganoong kadali ito. Even if you want to supply, if you don't have capital, paano ka makaka-supply sa amin? Magka-capital ka niyan," he added. Lao said the government actually awarded a contract to Hafid N’ Erasmus Corporation again for another 250,000 sets of PPEs which it just delivered this month. Moreover, the PS-DBM said the government saved P800 million from the purchase of the Chinese PPEs.

Lao also said the PPEs made in China were the cheapest and best options for the Philippines during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic response, saying the prices offered by local suppliers were too high. But Hontiveros rejected this explanation. "Huwag din sabihin ng DBM na walang kakayanan nung umpisa ng pandemya ang lokal na mga kumpanya. As early as February 6, binalita na na ang Bataan-based firm called Medtex ay kayang gumawa ng 2 million face masks monthly. At meron din silang sister company under the Medtec Group of Companies na nagproproduce ng PPEs. Bakit hindi sa mga katulad nila nag-negotiate ang DBM? Bakit inuna ang foreign companies?” she said.

Source: gmanetwork.com