DUTERTE SACKS 20 MILITARY EXECS
High-ranking officials being axed for alleged corruption in V. Luna Medical Center
Manila - President Rodrigo Duterte has axed around 20 high-ranking military officials over the supposedly P1.491 million ghost procurement in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Medical Center, otherwise known as V. Luna Medical Center, in Quezon City.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. yesterday said that Duterte ordered the relief and court martial proceedings against the top military officials, including AFP Health Service Command commander Brigadier General Edwin Leo Torrelavega and V. Luna Medical Center commander Colonel Antonio Punzalan.
“It was brought to the President’s attention that alleged corruption activities have been taking place at the V. Luna Medical Center. The President has since read the reports of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) and the [AFP] chief-of-staff General Carlito Galvez,” Roque told Palace reporters.
“Based on the reports, several high-ranking officials and employees of the V. Luna Medical Center, health service command of the AFP undertook anomalous purchases of equipment and engaged in fraudulent transactions, including ghost purchasing, splitting of contracts to circumvent mandatory bidding processes, and conceiving fictitious suppliers,” he added.
Roque said the information about the supposed corruption within the military hospital came from an unnamed whistleblower.
Duterte was “personally aggravated and angered” to learn that the anomalous procurement, with a total amount of P1,491,570, was just a “one transaction alone,” Roque said.
On top of the P1.491-million worth of ghost deliveries, there were also several anomalous transactions amounting to “hundreds of millions of pesos” made by officials of the V. Luna Medical Center,” the Palace official added.
“He (Duterte) is ballistic... He was personally aggravated when the information on corruption was confirmed in V. Luna [Medical Center]. Personally aggravated and angered,” Roque said.