Sandiganbayan denies Duque’s bid to disqualify two DOH witnesses in Pharmally case

MANILA — The Sandiganbayan First Division denied former health secretary Francisco Duque III’s bid to disqualify two Department of Health (DOH) employees from testifying in his graft case over the alleged irregular transfer of P41 billion DOH funds for COVID-19 supplies.

Duque’s lawyers filed an urgent motion seeking to block the prosecution from presenting Dawnavi Lacsado and Abegail Conchada, former administrative officers at the DOH central office, arguing that their testimonies would be repetitive of those given by previous DOH employees.

The court allowed Lacsado and Conchada to testify after the prosecution argued the defense had no valid grounds to disqualify the witnesses and that the jurisprudence cited in their motion was outdated.

Prosecutors said the two witnesses were presented to establish the DOH’s capacity to procure its own medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic without going through the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).

However, both witnesses said they had no personal knowledge of the DOH leadership’s decision to transfer funds to the PS-DBM.

Lacsado and Conchada said their duties were limited to administrative tasks, such as organizing activities and meetings and compiling procurement-related documents.

They also said they could no longer recall the quantities and prices of the supplies procured or the length of the procurement process.

Prosecutors allege that Duque and former PS-DBM chief Lloyd Christopher Lao acted with evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence when they facilitated the transfer of DOH funds to the PS-DBM to procure COVID-19 test kits, face masks and other medical supplies.

The prosecution claims Duque approved the fund transfer despite allegedly knowing that it would not expedite the procurement of medical supplies and that the DOH could procure the items directly.