Former Director of Economic Resources of the SCS takes advantage of her right not to testify in Parliament when being investigated
Tomás Morales, former technical general secretary, points out that the hiring depended on the direction of Ana María Pérez
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Oct. 28 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The former director of Economic Resources of the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS), Ana María Pérez, has availed herself this Monday of her right not to testify before the investigation commission of the Parliament of the Canary Islands on the purchase of medical supplies during the pandemic as she is being investigated. for the crimes of prevarication and influence peddling in the ‘mask case’.
The parliamentary groups have tried, without success, to have Pérez – who attended accompanied by her lawyer – offer her testimony and have reported her questions so that they could be recorded in the commission.
Jesús Ramos (ASG) has said that “it is a shame” that he has not offered his version of the events, the Vox spokesperson, Nicasio Galván, has shown understanding with his refusal to speak due to his judicial situation and has asked if he received “pressure” from the director of the SCS, Conrado Domínguez, and Esther González (NC-BC) has called it “logical” that she does not testify because she is being investigated in a criminal case, which is why she has not asked any questions.
Fernando Enseñat (PP) has not shared that Pérez does not declare because he has a “moral responsibility” with the Canaries to clarify what happened with the RR7 mask contract. “It would be important for you to speak out because you are at the epicenter of responsibilities, everyone wants to blame you, it seems like they want to take you for granted,” he indicated.
José Alberto Díaz-Estébanez (CC) has said that it should be the “moral obligation” of all those involved in the commission to offer their testimony and has claimed Pérez as a “key player” in the ‘masks case’ as a “necessary collaborator” to that “the gear works.”
He has pointed out that the loss of four million euros of public assets is “indisputable” and there are millions of units of “useless” medical supplies that are stored in departments of the autonomous community.
The nationalist deputy has shown interest in knowing, especially, whether she was dismissed due to health problems or as a result of the Prosecutor’s Office opening the judicial investigation, and has asked Pérez if she has felt “used.”
Miguel Ángel Pérez del Pino has reproached the opposition for wanting to turn the investigation commission “into a court” and that “they don’t give a damn” about the information that comes from those appearing.
Tomás Morales, who held the General Technical Secretariat of the Ministry of Health, and was also advisor and director of the Health area of El Hierro in the last Legislature, has intervened before the commission and indicated that he is unaware of the contract signed with RR7 United by value of four million euros for one million masks that were not used.
In addition, he commented that on the dates of this hiring the technical general secretary was Isabel León, the current deputy minister of Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands.
He clarified that the contracting bodies “were clear and assessed” and the decisions depended on the general direction of Economic Resources of the Canarian Health Service (SCS), pointing out that since the approval of the state of alarm the emergency was accredited and transfer was made. to the Government Council.
He has pointed out that when he was in charge of the Health area of El Hierro they did not detect the arrival of defective material and made it clear that he did not know the reasons why he had been summoned to testify by the Socialist Group although he has been a militant since 2009 and an advisor in Parliament.
“I have the qualifications for the position, I am not going to lie or commit any illegality in a commission of inquiry,” he added, highlighting that no one gave him any prior instructions to prepare the commission.
THE HEALTH EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE WAS “INEFFECTIVE”
Morales has clarified the functioning of the different committees organized during the pandemic, he has reported that the health executive committee was “ineffective” because it was “regulated” and what was needed was a more “flexible” model that would allow decisions to be made more quickly. .
From there he highlighted that both the scientific committee with experts to advise and the management committee were created, which included, among others, the President of the Government, Ángel Víctor Torres, or the Minister of the Treasury, Román Rodríguez, given that the information that arrived was “disjointed” and it was good to centralize it.
He has also clarified that minutes were not taken of the meetings because they were not administrative bodies.
He stated that he had “contact” with Conrado Domínguez because he was his “superior”, but not with Torres or Ana María Pérez, although he did “know” her, while highlighting that he does not know the people related to the contract. RR7.
Morales has also reported that as technical general secretary they had the functions of providing advice, preparing the agreements that went to the Government Council, managing regulations and assisting health bodies of the autonomous community.
DISMISSAL OF TERESA CRUZ: THE PRESIDENT THOUGHT IT WAS “THE BEST THING”
He has said that the management committee did not overlap the functions of the Ministry of Health or the SCS and has stated that he did not know the reasons why he was dismissed after the dismissal of the Minister of Health, Teresa Cruz. “If the president fired her it is because he thought it was best,” he stressed.
In fact, it has valued the results of the management of the pandemic in the Canary Islands given that the archipelago was the community with the fewest deaths per capita, the fewest deaths in senior centers and made “pioneering” decisions that were copied by other communities.
In this sense, he has highlighted the “know how” that was accumulated at the La Candelaria Hospital, that PCR tests could be carried out four days after the state of alarm was declared or that a covid-19 telephone number was opened to avoid patients to go to health centers. “Many lives were saved,” he indicated.
He has also defended the creation of a “dashboard” that collected infection data by island and also the stock of material and consumption and has stressed that it would have been “reckless” not to contract masks from a company that could bring them to the Canary Islands in 72 hours. “That was his solvency,” he said.
In the face of future pandemics, he has indicated that there can be “improvement” in adapting the public contracts law to emergencies such as a health pandemic and “learning from the things that were done well and from what was done badly.”
