Sotto claims corruption in family health funds

Almost P2.6 billion in government allocations for family health programs might not have reached the beneficiaries, Senator Vicente Sotto III said Tuesday. The Department of Health (DOH) allocated P600 million in 2008, P800 million in 2009, and P1.2 billion in 2010 for the Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN) program of local government units (LGU) around the country, Sotto told reporters in an interview before his privilege speech. On the floor, Sotto said in his privilege speech there are "reasonable grounds" that the funds appropriated for the LGUs’ family health program did not reach the intended beneficiaries. The DOH budget for family health and family planning included support provisions for the MNCHN services in the form of grants, the actor-turned- senator said. Citing DOH data, Sotto said the department in 2008 awarded grants to LGUs for the Contraceptive Self- Reliance (CSR). In 2009, the department also awarded grants based on an LGU's performance achievements toward MNCHN outcomes, their capacity to provide MNCHN services, and their commitment to improve services for better results in the future, he added. "When I started my inquiries [into] our LGUs, whether they received the money indicated under the family health program of the DOH — [and] supposedly allotted to them — to my astonishment, the answer was, ‘No,’" he said. He cited Ilocos Norte, which he said was supposed to have received P644,525.60 in 2008, P602,590 in 2009 and P2.48 million in 2010. "I was told they did not receive a single centavo," he said, adding that he even obtained a certification that no funds were infused into the family heath program of the province. In the respective cases of Batangas, Quezon, and Lucena City, Sotto said that he received verbal confirmation regarding the "anomalous situation." Now, the senator said, he is "…just awaiting their respective certifications." Thus, Congress must be careful regarding the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill, which seeks to allot funds for reproductive health services, Sotto warned. “The House of Representatives’ version of the RH Bill enhances such expenditures," the senator said. “Can we be assured that taxpayers’ money will no longer be wasted?" he asked. He then urged the Senate to remain vigilant so as to properly allocate funds and ensure that the taxpayers’ money is properly used. "While advocates of the RH bill are focusing on various issues such as overpopulation, poverty, contraception, abortion and so on and so forth, it is best that we look into the here and now because I smell that there is something rotten in this state of affairs," he added. Sotto will refer his claim to the appropriate Senate committee to look into. At the House of Representatives, the RH bill is being discussed in the plenary for approval on second reading. On the other hand, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago's Senate Bill 2378 or “An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health and Population and Development is still pending before the Senate health committee. —VS, GMA News