President Duterte during one fo the Palace briefings (FILE PHOTO / MALACAÑANG)
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte insisted on Friday that he never said a word in favor of the controversial Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.Duterte, in an interview with Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, said Senator Richard Gordon, Chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, was only “mixing up everything.”
The Senate committee previously investigated the multibillion-peso contracts bagged by Pharmally for the country’s COVID-19 pandemic supplies.
“Itong si Gordon, he was mixing up everything. I never, never said a word in favor of Pharmally. But I was adamant and insistent na the Senate should not waste the time of Galvez and Duque because their work was really critical… at that time,” Duterte said, referring to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
In September last year, Duterte vowed to resign if there is proof of corruption in the use of COVID-19 funds.
“The senators kept looking for the technical and financial requirements of Pharmally. Wala naman akong pakialam diyan (I don’t care about that.) Pharmally is really a Pharmally corporation sa (in) Singapore,” he later said in a separate meeting with government officials.
“What is clear is that there was a contract, there was delivery, kumpleto ang lahat ng specifications at quality, quantity and all. Tapos after delivery bago pa nagbayad ang Pilipinas,” the President pointed out.
(What is clear is there was a contract, there was delivery, specifications are complete. The Philippines paid after the delivery.)
During the height of the issue, Duterte also barred his Cabinet officials from attending the Senate inquiry, but said he did it to protect his people from being treated badly and not to defend Pharmally.
He later told the Senate that he does not care about the fate of the embattled company and that senators could “crumple it” by investigating it thoroughly.
Duterte said that for him, there is no issue with Pharmally as far as they are concerned, because the medical supplies from the company were already delivered to the government.