Order PH gov’t to disclose COVID vaccine spending, Ex-SolGen Cadiz asks SC

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Government agencies have 'unlawfully' withheld' copies of supply agreements signed by the Philippine government under then-president Rodrigo Duterte to buy the vaccines, the petitioners say

MANILA, Philippines – A former solicitor general has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to compel the Philippine government to disclose the procurement details for COVID-19 vaccines.

Jose Anselmo Cadiz — solicitor general during the Benigno Aquino III administration and former Integrated Bar of the Philippines national president — and other lawyers filed a petition for certiorari and mandamus with the SC on Thursday, April 10.

Certiorari is a legal remedy used to review another body’s decision or grave abuse of discretion, while mandamus is sought to compel a body to fulfill its duty.

“Issue the writ of mandamus and compel respondents to immediately provide petitioners or grant them access to copies of all the Supply Agreements entered into by the Philippine Government for the procurement of all COVID-19 vaccine doses, as enumerated in their FOI (freedom of information) requests,” the petition read.

The other petitioners are lawyers Randall Tabayoyong, Jeffrey Constantino, and Nizzane Vico.

The lawyers filed the petition after government agencies refused to disclose information on COVID-19 vaccine procurement. The petition listed the following agencies as respondents:

• Department of Health
• Department of Finance
• Department of Budget and Management
• Commission on Audit

According to the petitioners, the agencies “unlawfully withheld” copies of supply agreements signed by the Philippine government under then-president Rodrigo Duterte to buy the vaccines. The lawyers argued that the lack of transparency violates the public’s right to information, enshrined in Article III, Section 7 of the Philippine Constitution.

In addition, the petitioners said they requested the information through formal channels like the FOI, but the “DOH did not even bother to give any response to their requests.”

“The public has the right to know how their funds were utilized, especially in matters as critical as the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines. Our petition seeks to uphold this fundamental right and ensure that government agencies fulfill their ministerial duties under the Constitution,” Cadiz said.

“We are hopeful that, through this Petition, the Supreme Court will recognize the urgency and importance of our request for the Supply Agreements as well as the grave abuse of discretion that the respondents committed in denying that request. In the end, we are only trying to uphold the people’s right to information guaranteed under our Constitution,” he added.

At the height of the pandemic, the government spent billions of pesos to inoculate Filipinos to give them a fighting chance against COVID-19.

The petitioners said the government allotted P113.5 billion to buy the vaccines sourced from the national budget and loans from institutions like the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. – Rappler.com