The suppliers tagged in the alleged procurement of overpriced personal protective equipment (PPEs) and medical supplies denied the allegations of anomalies and assured that the government’s purchase was above board.
PPE and medical equipment suppliers XuZhou Construction Machinery Group Imp. and Exp. Co. Ltd., Integrated Energy Systems and Resources Inc., Lifeline Diagnostics Supplies Inc., and Hafid N’ Erasmus Corp. (HNE) in separate letters denied the accusations made against them.
Hongzhi Han of XuZhou Construction Machinery Group insisted that the products they provided to the country were of good quality.
“It is baseless and irresponsible accusation that quality is inferior and overpriced. Our prices are cheap and the same as what was offered to other countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, and others,” Hongzhi said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Hafid N’ Erasmus (HNE) defended that their PS-DBM medical-grade suits were “far more price-competitive” than what other suppliers offered during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Suppliers tagged in ‘overpriced’ PPEs deny allegations
“The high price of the PPEs during the periods of March to June 2020 was due to the high demand in the market which are obviously experienced worldwide,” HNE said.
The company added that it decided to build its own manufacturing plants in Parañaque City and Carmona, Laguna, to produce locally made cover-all, washable face masks, aprons, and other non-woven medical products.
“HNE is now one of the major local suppliers of PPEs for private and public hospital health workers,” it said.
Rex Tiri, president and chairman of Lifeline Diagnostics, said the followed all of the government’s procurement processes and denied involvement in the alleged overpriced Macherey-Nagel Nucleospin extraction kits.
He added they initially declined the government’s offer to participate in the bidding “because there was no assurance from our manufacturers that we can deliver the goods.”
“We could have just sold to private customers only as there was so much demand at the time, and we can even get better terms,” Tiri said in his letter to PS-DBM dated September 16, 2020.