THE City of Manila responded to the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic by beefing up the protection of healthcare workers and frontline personnel and delivering relief to residents during lengthy lockdowns.
This mobilization came at a hefty cost, its 2020 maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) increasing by 105 percent to P11.92 billion compared to just P5.824 billion the previous year.
Drugs and medicines procurement ballooned 77.7 percent year on year from P326.23 million to P579.71 million.
Medical, dental, and laboratory supplies expenses also climbed 168.7 percent from P139.75 million to P375.56 million.
The Commission on Audit said these all went to back up the needs of the Manila Health Department of the six city-funded public hospitals.
On the other hand, food supplies purchases soared 646 percent from P13.99 million in 2019 to P104.42 million in 2020.
“The increase in Food Supplies Expenses pertains to the additional procurement of food for the six City-funded hospitals,” the audit team noted.
At the same time, “ayuda” or Welfare Goods Expenses distributed as food packs to qualified residents spiked 564 percent from P112.43 million in 2019 to P747.27 million.
The biggest expense item, however, was listed under Other Supplies and Material Expenses totaling P2.238 billion pertaining to the distribution of tablets and laptops to qualified students and teachers for online education.
Other Maintenance and Operating Expenses also went up to P2.211 billion compared to P1.7 billion from the year before the pandemic struck.
“(The expense) is mainly due to procurement of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers and other frontliners in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as supplies for the disinfection of the City,” auditors explained.
Also included were allowances of the uniformed personnel implementing the order and compliance to the health protocols set by the national government.
