MANILA, Philippines — Some House members hit the Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday for failing to distribute to hospitals 370 respirators donated by some firms in the tobacco industry, leaving them instead unused in a warehouse.
“This is criminal negligence. These respirators could have saved lives,” Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez told the House Committee on Good Government. “My district in Cagayan De Oro, which has one of the highest cases of Covid in the country, badly needs these respirators.”
The reason the DOH cited for holding on to the donated respirators was Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) 2010-01 issued by the DOH and the Civil Service Commission.
The JMC — wh…
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