After  ventilator fiasco, president demands transparency

In the wake of mounting reports of rash spending by government entities under cover of the pandemic  National  Emergency, President, Laurentino Cortizo,  on Monday, April 27  called to the Public Ministry, the Comptroller General and the Judicial Branch to act to guarantee transparency in the use of public funds.

In his Twitter account, he  wrote  that ” transparency and accountability in the use of public funds in a pandemic or normal times”, strengthens the certainty of punishment  adding  that: “control institutions have to act and not hide.”

Questions and requests for accountability by various sectors of society have arisen due to the purchase processes that the Government has carried out since the quarantine to combat Covid-19 was applied.

The Chamber of Commerce also reacted on Monday, demanding transparency in the purchase of equipment and goods to deal with the pandemic.

The intention of the Ministry of the  Presidency to buy $100 ventilators for $5.2 to attend to coronavirus cases, generated widespread negative reactions.

In the end,  the supplier reported that it could not fulfill the order.  To date, the Ministry has not given details on whether other companies have shown interest in fulfilling the order.

The supplier’s withdrawal came, hours after the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office announced an investigation ex officio for the alleged commission of the crime against the public administration and the Comptroller’s Office said that not even an emergency situation exempts officials from transparently safeguarding the proper use of state assets and resources.