Audit shows Pharmally deliveries to PS-DBM always short, delayed –Imee Marcos

Senator Imee Marcos on Tuesday belied former Budget Undersecretary Christopher Lloyd Lao’s claim that Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation was capable of delivering COVID-19 goods to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).

During the continuation of the Senate blue ribbon panel’s probe into the alleged overpriced pandemic supplies, Lao maintained that he had scrutinized Pharmally before the government transacted with the firm.

“They were able to prove it [that they can deliver] because they actually show proof by delivering it,” Lao said answering Senator Richard Gordon’s queries.

However, Marcos, citing a DBM internal audit ordered by former Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado, said Pharmally’s deliveries were always delayed and the quantity of the items were always short.

To prove her point, she mentioned one of the key observations in the audit report, which indicated that Pharmally was not able to deliver all the A*Fortitude RT-PCR kits ordered by the government on time.

“The delivery was short. It was only nine out of 14 [deliveries]. Only seven of which were submitted to the audit team. They repeated time and again the unsatisfactory progress of deliveries and the constant request of Pharmally for extensions and that it was always short,” Marcos said.

Apart from this, Marcos said the audit showed that liquidated damages were charged because of the constant delays in the deliveries.

“There was also the possibility of a [Commission on Audit] audit observation memo because of the non-accountability of the supplier of the incurred damages,” she said.

“Ito ba ‘yung sinasabing mga supplier na kayang-kaya mag deliver e panay short ang deliveries, panay delayed, panay extension, mayroon ng liquidated damages charge e hindi naman siguro mapapatunayan ng talagang may kapasidad silang mag-deliver kapag ganyan,” she pointed out.

Lao did not directly respond to Marcos’ point. Instead, he said that the logistical restrictions were behind the delay.

“I think that was the time when restrictions are made. Hindi lang po si Pharmally d’yan with respect to A* Fortitude. Mayroon din po si GeneXpert from US those were the times when testings are high in different countries that they restrict exports,” he said.

He further claimed that the restrictions resulted to “favorable advantage” to the Philippines with regard to the supply of A* Fortitude test kits as they were able to directly procure from the manufacturer.

“Because of the subsequent procurement, we already bypassed Pharmally and we already bought directly from Mirxes PTE Limited,” he said.

However, Gordon pointed out that the DBM-PS still awarded the contract for the test kits to Pharmally instead of A*ccelerate, the direct supplier of A* Fortitude RT-PCR kits.

“Imbes na dito sa mas mababang bidder na A*ccelerate na direct supplier, binigay mo pa rin sa Pharmally at P366,000 per kit,” Gordon said, showing the comparison of prices offered by both suppliers.

Should the DBM-PS transacted with A*ccelerate, the government can buy the test kit at P125,368.02. Each kit is good for 200 tests.

The quotation made by A*ccelerate was submitted March 25, 2020 while Pharmally gave the quotation on April 5,2020.

Senators have been investigating the purchase of COVID-19 supplies made by DBM-PS last year, during which Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation bagged more than P8 billion in government contracts for the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPEs), which were alleged to be overpriced.—LDF, GMA News

Audit shows Pharmally deliveries to PS-DBM always short, delayed –Imee Marcos
Source: Filipino Viral News PH