Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Tuesday defended the government’s procurement of pricier medical equipment amid the COVID-19 pandemic. | CMRamosINQ
He also questioned the price of the government-procured swabbing system, which amounted to $32 dollars each, compared with the ones acquired by the private sector, which was able to buy the same for only $16.Duque then referred the question to Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Lao, executive director of the Procurement Service, saying “none of these items directly procured by DOH.”
“We believe that the PS-DBM has a much wider network of local and international suppliers. We were thinking they would be able to get at very, very competitive if not reasonable pricing points,” he added. “If they will issue to us an APR which is generic, ‘pag sinabi nila na extraction machine, we will bid it to all providers and whoever has the cheapest, we will buy it. But since the APR issued to us is very specific, brand-based, pag specific and brand based, we can only buy that specific brand which is in this case, Thermo Science King Fisher,” Lao said.Lacson then asked if it was allowed under procurement laws for an agency to request for the procurement of an item from a specific brand.
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