The Philippine health minister, facing questions over more than $1 billion in Covid-19 spending, denied that any money was “stolen”, as his department vowed to account for every peso.

The country is battling one of Asia's worst coronavirus outbreaks, and the spread of the virulent Delta variant is overwhelming hospitals and healthcare workers, some of which have warned of mass resignations over unpaid allowances, Reuters reports.

“You will be assured that no money went into corruption. None was stolen. I am sure of that,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque told DZMM radio.

The state auditor has flagged “deficiencies” involving 67.3 billion pesos ($1.33 billion), casting doubts on the regularity of related transactions in the country's pandemic response.