It will take at least one month for the Office of the Ombudsman to consolidate data gathered on the alleged anomalies in the procurement of hospital supplies at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, the Social Action Center-Corruption Unit said yesterday.

Fr. Aniceto Buenafe of the SAC-CPU said the Ombudsman investigator assigned to the case has started collecting information on the complaint submitted by the Hospital Watch and will release the results in September.

The Ombudsman will tackle the complaints one at a time, starting with the reported irregularities in the bidding procedure of hospital supplies, among them, the procurement of oxygen in 2002 and 2003, Buenafe said.

After completing its investigation on the bidding and procurement procedure, the Ombudsman will move to the next item in the complaint which is the chronic delay and shortages in the release of personnel salaries, he added.

Also included in the complaint submitted by the Hospital Watch thru the SAC-CPU, are overcharging of patients at the CLMMRH, conspicuous lifestyle and questionable wealth of certain hospital officials, and abuse of power and discretion of hospital chief Dr. Domingo Vega.

Aside from sending a subpoena to the chairman of the hospital Bids and Awards Committee, the investigator assigned to the complaint will also interview hospital personnel who can shed light on the alleged irregularities, Buenafe said.

Meanwhile, CLMMRH chief administrative Bryan Baylon, who exposed the reported anomalies in the oxygen procurement, said he was glad that the Ombudsman responded immediately to the complaint submitted by the Hospital Watch.

Baylon expressed hopes the issue will be resolved soon and that the Ombudsman will be able to link what is happening in the CLMMRH to his case.

Baylon was placed on preventive suspension by Vega after he exposed the procurement irregularities.

His lawyer, Jerry Basiao said they will file a complaint with the Court of Appeals in Cebu to question the legal basis for the suspension order issued of Vega.*NAB

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