Some 550 million worth of expired COVID-19 test kits were procured by the government from the controversial Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. during the time that the country was struggling to test people with symptoms of the viral illness, Senator Francis Pangilinan revealed on Tuesday.
During the continuation of the Senate Blue Ribbon panel’s probe into the alleged overpriced pandemic supplies, Pangilinan said the government wasted billion-worth of money for paying about 400,000 COVID-19 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test kits that have short shelf-life or are near expiry.
“This is like we are burning cash amid the many deaths,” he said
Likewise, Pangilinan also presented a letter dated December 7, 2020, signed by Health Assistant Secretary Nelson Santiago and was addressed to former chief of the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) Christopher Lloyd-Lao.
“DOH was requesting a rescheduling of the delivery of Pharmally testing kits because the test kits that were delivered expired. Hindi nagamit. They paid in full for testing kits that were due to expire in six months,” Pangilinan stated.
At that time, 7,925 test kits have expired, said the senator.
Santiago, who was also present in the hearing, said that the almost 8,000 kits could cover 371,794 tests.
Two joint inspection and evaluation reports by the PS-DBM showed that Pharmally delivered 4,800 test packs on May 2, 2020, and 3,200 more two days later, enough to test up to 400,000 people.
According to Pangilinan, the inspection reports indicated that the test kits had April 5, 2020, date of manufacture, and expiry date of Oct. 5, 2020, or just six months.
The PS-DBM Technical Requirement document dated April 21, 2020 requires all testing kits to be fresh stock and must have a shelf-life of at least 24 to 36 months from the date of delivery.
“So bakit pinayagan natin na mag-deliver ang Pharmally nang hindi compliant sa technical specifications tapos binayaran pa ng full na dapat sana na-diskwento. Tapos hindi na na-diskwento binayaran ng buo. Hindi compliant tapos 371,000 na mga testing kits na hindi na magamit,” Pangilinan asked.
in his defense, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that the 12 to 24 months expiry period was a “pre-pandemic” requirement.
“Bago po kasi itong virus na ito, pati 'yung mga gumagawa ng mga test kits have to rely on evolving information as to the stability of the test kits,” he said.
