Blue Ribbon bares report on controversial Pharmally deals

THE SENATE Blue Ribbon Committee has formally endorsed the filing of multiple administrative and criminal charges against two former officials of the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) for their role in an alleged anomalous deal entered with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation in 2022.

The Blue Ribbon Committee chaired by Senator Richard Gordon recommended the filing of anti-graft and corruption, plunder, tax evasion, and procurement violation cases against former PS-DBM officer-in-charge Lloyd Christopher Lao and Procurement Director Warren Rex Liong, while an additional document falsification case will be thrown against Liong.

“The pre-meditated plunder commences with appointing an all-in-one trusted election supporter, a bent lawyer who reports and is accountable only to the President and to no other, is plentifully corrupt, and one who has a deplorable sense of indifference to the suffering of others, to a low-profile, but which turns out to be a highly-lucrative government posting,” detailed the report, referring to Lao.

“As concertmaster, he ensures that the contracts are given mostly to a favored or favorite supplier even if the corporation will not even qualify technically, legally, and financially,” the report added.

Following Lao’s involvement in the Pharmally deal, he applied to become Overall Deputy Ombudsman, but reneged at the last minute.

“After all the major contracts had been consummated and paid for, the need for protection, in case the plot is discovered, had become imperative. There had to be a rear-guard action to cover the retreating conspirators from any legal peril that could surface later. A getaway plan must be put into action,” the report said.

It may be recalled that Lao and Liong allegedly engineered the partnership between Pharmally and the PS-DBM, awarding the upstart company with a multi-billion peso contract from March 2020 to July 2021. Pharmally, which has only P625,000 in paid-up capital, is questioned for its technical, legal, and financial capability.

Gordon said: “Ang aking panawagan sa mga kasamahan ko sa Senado at mga mamamayang Pilipino (ay) magtulungan tayo upang tuluyang panagutin ang mga nagdulot sa atin ng katiwalian at dagdag pahirap sa panahon ng pandemya. Fight for what is right. This system of syndicated corruption is evil. It slows down the country's pandemic response and burdens the Filipino people. We must put this to an end,” he said.

According to a CNN report, the Blue Ribbon committee has recommended the filing of criminal charges against Health Secretary Francisco Duque and several others linked to the government's allegedly anomalous purchase of Covid-19 pandemic supplies.

In the partial committee report released on February 2, senators tagged Duque for violations of the anti-graft and corruption law, as well as plunder over the supposed misuse of the crisis response funds. The lawmakers particularly noted how the Health chief moved over ₱40 billion from his agency to the PS-DBM to supposedly hasten the purchase of medical supplies.

“Even after the multi-billion peso inter-agency transfer, DOH was purchasing supplies at considerably lower prices than that of PS-DBM,” read the 113-page committee report.

Duque, for his part, said if ever the report is adopted, his camp will fully cooperate with the court's processes as they have nothing to hide.

The Blue Ribbon committee also recommended charges against Lao, former presidential economic adviser and Chinese businessman Michael Yang, and several other officials of the embattled Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation.

Lao was the head of the PS-DBM when it awarded the supply contracts to Pharmally in 2020. Yang, on the other hand, was tagged as the firm’s financier.

The Senate's draft report also recommended the deportation of Yang, whom the committee called out for being evasive during hearings. “Financing the Pharmally contracts was a sure way of washing his cash. He, for all intents and purposes, is the co-conductor of this horrible mess,” it said.

Yang's camp maintained that the report findings have no legal basis. Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, who represents Pharmally executives, also expressed confidence that his clients would be exonerated.

The panel lamented how public funds were plundered as the country continued to struggle due to the health crisis. It also highlighted how the government purchased overpriced materials from what it labeled as an unqualified and undercapitalized firm.

“Instead of ensuring that crucial supplies were made available, the public servants who were supposed to be responsible for the people's welfare lined their pockets. There is always an opportunity in crisis, indeed,” the report said.

Senators also noted that charges must be considered against Duterte when he steps down from office. “After all, he was the one who appointed all the people who approved these transactions and aggressively protected and defended them when they were caught in this horrible crime against our people,” they said.

Duterte also betrayed public trust for defending and not holding his appointees accountable amid the Pharmally controversy, the lawmakers claimed.

The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability also recommended charges against a number of Pharmally officials over the government deal. However, the panel said it found no overpricing in the purchase of the supplies. Both the Senate and House are expected to endorse their respective reports to the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman.

“On the part of the DOJ, it will make a preliminary evaluation to determine if there is a need to refer the reports to the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) for validation of the evidence. If in the affirmative, the NBI will be directed to conduct its investigation and build, if necessary, on the evidence already gathered by the Congress,” said Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra. (Mindanao Examiner. CNN Philippines’ Eimor Santos and Alyssa Rola contributed to this report.)