Following President Duterte statement that he wants the Commission on Audit (COA) to audit the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), the humanitarian organization stressed that “being a non-government organization,” they are not subject to audit by the country’s state auditors.
The PRC said that they undergo regular audit by a private international accounting firm.
“The PRC audit is conducted by a private international accounting firm, which is also the auditor of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which receives a copy of the independent audit report,” the statement signed by the 19 members of the Board of Governors of the PRC, read.
The PRC officers stressed that in their regular operations and the hundreds of millions entrusted to them by their our local and international partners for initiatives in major disasters like Typhoon Haiyan, Tropical Storm Ondoy, and Tropical Storm Sendong, to name a few, “there have been no findings of any wrongdoing on the part of the institution or its officers.”
“The Philippine Red Cross, the country’s foremost humanitarian organization, is always guided by the seven fundamental principles of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement – humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality. To alleviate human suffering is the objective of every initiative that we undertake,” the statement said, adding that PRC is governed by a “Board of Governors that has been united in the policies we espouse and in supporting the leadership and management of the PRC.”
Support for Gordon
The PRC officers said that the respect and unity among the Board, management, staff, and the two million volunteers of the PRC is what allows them to perform their humanitarian duties.
“In this time of strife for our people when we are focused on alleviating human suffering, we will continue to ensure that our people receive the help and succor that they desperately need. We express our staunch and unequivocal support for Chairman Dick Gordon, himself an unsalaried volunteer like the rest of the Board, who has transformed the PRC into the responsive and modernized institution that it is today.”
The PRC officers declared they will stand “solidly” behind Gordon as “he leads the valiant efforts of the PRC to serve millions of suffering Filipino people, especially during this protracted pandemic.”
“Our mission to aid and comfort the afflicted and to save lives beckons every day, and amidst the suffering of our people, we will continue to fulfill our mandate and find ways to uplift the life of every Filipino,” they said.
Testing
The PRC recalled that months before the Covid-19 pandemic unleashed havoc on our country, the leadership of the PRC, seeing what was happening in other parts of the world, took immediate and decisive measures to ensure that they are “Always First, Always Ready, Always There” to respond to the devastation that the virus would cause to our people.
This foresight, they added, allowed them to quickly establish molecular laboratories for RT-PCR testing, a service that the PRC had never offered before.
“It was not long before the PRC was doing the bulk of the country’s testing, at its height covering 45 percent of the requirement, picking up the slack for the government. Today, we are the largest testing provider in the country and have conducted over 4 million tests.”
They pointed out that the PRC, as defined by R.A. 10072, is “a voluntary, independent, and autonomous, non-governmental organization.”
“As such, we do not receive appropriations from the government. The bulk of our funds come from private donations of generous individuals, corporations, and partner international Red Cross and Red Crescent societies who trust in our ability to deliver life-saving services to the most vulnerable. Sometimes, agencies like the Department of Health, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office choose to voluntarily donate to the PRC for specific programs. While these donations constitute a small part of our funds, they are properly liquidated and no dispute has ever been raised regarding them.”
Fiscal responsibility
They said that when the PRC temporarily suspended the testing of patients who were supposed to be covered by PhilHealth when the state health insurer had an outstanding balance of almost P800 million and had failed to make payment as promised, “we did so because we were exercising fiscal responsibility.”
To begin with, the PRC officials said, the Covid-19 testing should be the job of the government but still they merely stepped up when there was a need that the government could not address.
“To allow our finances to bleed from operational expenses and supplies related to testing because the government does not pay its obligations would severely compromise our much-needed services to the suffering and marginalized. Such irresponsibility would also cause us to lose credibility with and confidence of our donors and jeopardize our ability to raise funds and continue to serve our people through our other services, such as blood banks (serving almost 50 percent of the national blood requirement), a dialysis center, disaster management, ambulances (170 units), safety, sanitation, and housing (151,000 houses for disaster victims),” the PRC officers said.
Image courtesy of DHONG SALEM