MANILA, Philippines 鈥斅� Sen. Richard Gordon should return the P140 million in disallowed funds he incurred, including P86 million he allegedly pocketed, when he was still chair of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).
President Rodrigo Duterte repeated the demand in his taped weekly address that aired late Monday night.
鈥淢ay I remind COA [Commission on Audit] of their constitutional duty to collect the P140 million notice of disallowance issued against SBMA during Gordon鈥檚 time?鈥� Duterte said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a waste of money. It could help if we could give it to Secretary Galvez to buy more [COVID-19] vaccines. That鈥檚 my purpose. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 interested in it,鈥� he added in Filipino.
He was referring to Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the country鈥檚 vaccine manager.
Earlier, Duterte instructed the Office of the Solicitor General to prompt the COA to act on the notice of disallowance it had sent to Gordon over the supposed misused funds.
搁贰础顿:听Duterte asks SolGen to act on COA disallowance notice sent to Gordon
The president even threatened to file a malversation case against Gordon to recover the P86 million allegedly spent by the senator as SBMA chair.
搁贰础顿;听Duterte threatens raps vs Gordon
鈥淧ay up. Anyway, you have a lot of money. That鈥榮 your personal [expenditure.]. That disallowance is personal,鈥� Duterte said. 鈥淭hat means the P86 million was in your hands. You did not spend it for government work.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not yours. That belongs to the people,鈥� he went on. 鈥淎nd we will give to Secretary Galvez to buy medicines for COVID. We need a lot of things. There are 110 million Filipinos who, if possible, we should vaccinate so that we will no longer have a headache.鈥�
The Philippines has so far received 77.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from different manufacturers.
The government has so far administered more than 45 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with 21 million persons already fully vaccinated against the respiratory disease.
搁贰础顿:听Over 21 million Filipinos now fully vaccinated vs COVID-19