ADB, World Bank demand “special audit” of COVID-19 vaccine expenditures

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB) are seeking a special audit of the loans extended to the Philippine government to procure COVID-19 vaccines, according to Commission on Audit (COA) chairman Gamaliel Cordoba last November 29. Cordoba committed to complete the audit of funds used to purchase the vaccines and its other expenditures during his ad-interim appointment hearing.

Senator Risa Hontiveros said in the hearing that COA has yet to audit the government’s procurement of vaccines for 2020 and 2021 due to the non-disclosure agreements entered by the Philippine government with various vaccine suppliers. During the session, she cited that the amount the government spent on vaccines was not public, and she was using newspaper estimates because no official audit information from the Department of Health (DOH) or Department of Finance (DOF) was available to the public. Hontiveros also put forth that NDAs infringe on the Constitution’s requirement for COA to audit government spending. 

During the hearing, Cordoba also reported that resident COA officers coordinated with DOH several months ago for the documents and contracts with vaccine manufacturers.  

Former health secretary Francisco Duque III wrote back to COA stating that the agency cannot provide these documents because of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) signed with vaccine providers. However, COA’s legal office pointed out that the agency is not bound by NDAs and COA will use all its powers and mandate to compel DOH and other parties involved to examine its books for the requested special audit. 

During the plenary deliberations on COA’s proposed 2023 budget last month, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero also asked about COA’s audit of its vaccine purchases from early 2020 to 2021 but no report was found about the audit. He pointed out that it has been over a year since the purchase, yet audit documents are still up for debate.  

In a DOH media briefing last December 2, DOH OIC Maria Rosario Vergeire mentioned that documents will then be released and shared with COA since NDAs can be disclosed once required by law. The reason for the change in stance between the previous DOH Secretary and the current OIC is not fully clear.

The ADB, WB, and Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank reportedly granted a total of USD 1.2 billion (PHP 67,194,000,000) in loans to the Philippines early last year to acquire vaccines. It can be recalled that the government’s vaccine procurement team enabled the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and purchase of CoronaVac, manufactured by Sinovac Biotech based in Beijing, China. This purchase led to numerous allegations of vaccine overpricing and probing into bribery accusations against Sinovac. The country’s former health chief Francisco Duque III had been also the subject of public scrutiny amid a scandal related to the procurement of pandemic-related goods and PPE. In opinion pieces, journalists openly write about the former secretary’s supercar collection and other displays of wealth.