6 DoH execs in hot water
‘All the processes undertaken by the DoH, through the cancer program, were unanimously approved by the National Integrated Cancer Control Council.’
Several high-ranking officials of the Department of Health are facing complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly mismanaging the agency’s cancer-care program funds.
DoH medical specialist Dr. Clarito Cairo Jr. filed the complaint alleging violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, grave misconduct, and malversation of public funds against DoH Undersecretary Beverly Lorraine Ho, ex-Director IV Anna Guerrero, Director IV Razel Nikka Hao, Director IV Anthony Cu, and physicians Kim Tejano and Jan Aura Laurelle Llevado.
Cairo alleged the officials conspired to undermine his expertise in cancer medicine procurement and “institutional memory.”
This, he said, was the fallout from the mismanagement of the Cancer Assistance Fund’s budget of P529 million and the Cancer and Supportive-Palliative Medicines Access Program’s budget of P786 million, both of which were derived from the 2022 General Appropriations Act or national budget.
This put the lives of many cancer patients, especially those enrolled in the program since 2021, in jeopardy, he said.
Cairo claimed that only 19 of the 31 access sites or hospitals received CSPMAP funds, which was highly disadvantageous to the government and a grave disservice to many enrolled patients.
“The Philippine General Hospital, Rizal Medical Center, and Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center which have been catering to a lot of cancer patients since 2011 had been unreasonably excluded from the list of access sites this 2022,” the complaint read.
“Thus, many of their CSPMAP-enrolled patients had to discontinue or abandon their treatment due to the unavailability of the life-saving medicine,” Cairo added.
The non-procurement of Imatinib, a chemotherapeutic maintenance drug used by patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia, was another issue raised in the complaint.
The Ombudsman was prodded into issuing preventive suspension orders against the officials.
The DoH, in a statement, said that while it had yet to receive the complaint, it “acted in the best interest” of cancer patients across the country who rely on the agency’s cancer program and its officials are “confident that our integrities remain intact.”
“All the processes undertaken by the DoH, through the cancer program, were unanimously approved by the National Integrated Cancer Control Council,” it said.
It added: “And other DoH hospitals alleged to have been excluded from receiving funds were actually provided cancer medicines and cancer assistance funds, which could be used for diagnostics, treatment, and other needed support of cancer patients.”