Former Sen. Richard Gordon and former Health Sec. Francisco Duque III
MANILA, Philippines — Former Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III could become a state witness against former President Rodrigo Duterte, according to former Sen. Richard Gordon.
This came following Duque’s admission before a House committee on Monday that on Duterte’s orders, he transferred P47.6 billion of the DOH’s funds to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) for the purchase of COVID-19 supplies.
READ: Duque says Duterte ordered transfer of P47.6-B DOH fund to PS-DBM
“So Duque now can be a state witness. Depending on the Ombudsman, he can be a major, major state witness against Duterte … that’s his only chance at salvation,” Gordon said in an interview with ANC’s “Headstart” on Tuesday.
“[Even] without that order, Cabinet members are acting on authority [based] on what they call the doctrine of qualified political agency. The acts of the secretary [are] the acts of the President … Duque caved in, he could have said no. Under the law, if you follow an illegal order, you acquiesce, [and] you would be charged,” he added.
He noted that some P11 billion was lost to corruption after the fund transfer during the pandemic “because, you know, even the Ombudsman is saying, the hospitals in Mindanao has never received the supplies.”
Gordon headed the Senate blue ribbon committee, which led the investigation of the multibillion-peso government contracts awarded to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. for pandemic response equipment and supplies during Duterte’s administration.
Panel recommendation
In 2022, the committee recommended the possible filing of charges against Duterte after he stepped down from office in connection with the allegedly irregular purchase of pandemic-related supplies.
The recommendation was contained in a 113-page draft report released by the committee. Duterte was also accused of betraying public trust for allegedly threatening senators, for his supposed “nonaction on this gargantuan scam, and in a time of grave danger, his cover-up efforts, his tyrannical use of presidential powers to prevent officials and employees from participating in the hearings.”
The draft report also noted Duterte’s admission that he himself had ordered the transfer of P42 billion from the DOH to PS-DBM for the purchase of COVID-19 supplies.
The report, however, did not prosper in the Senate, as some committee members refused to sign it.
Gordon, during the television interview, noted that the blue ribbon committee report was “fairly complete, including the people who should be charged.”
“Actually, I was hesitant to charge Secretary Duque simply because he was a prisoner of the President, he was a Cabinet member. Although eventually he … allowed himself to pass on the money to PS-DBM, which is unusual,” he said.
“To make a long story short, it could not have happened without Duterte. President Duterte started the wheels of corruption and it started by making sure that he transferred the money. There was money to be looted, he appointed his people, some of whom have been charged earlier,” Gordon added.
No surprise
For Sen. Risa Hontiveros, Duque’s admission was not surprising.
She added that since Duque made the statement under oath, Duterte should be included in the investigation, noting that “it can be proven that he was introduced to Pharmally officials by Michael Yang, his special adviser, in 2017.”
The blue ribbon committee draft report cited how Duterte supposedly “allowed, tolerated, if not encouraged, the participation of his intimate friend Michael Yang, a foreign national, in financing the Pharmally contracts.”
Yang, who served as Duterte’s economic adviser, allegedly helped finance Pharmally but he denied this.
“Duterte should, at the very least, explain the policy considerations that resulted in his directive to Secretary Duque,” Hontiveros said.
“As the Ombudsman continues its Pharmally probe, I trust that it will take this revelation into account. In the end, justice [will] prevail, and those who embezzled public funds, especially during the pandemic, will be held accountable,” she said.
Last month, the Ombudsman affirmed its 2023 recommendation for the filing of charges against PS-DBM and Pharmally officials over the awarding of billions of pesos worth of contracts to the little-known firm with a capitalization of only P625,000. The COVID-19 supplies from Pharmally, which included face shields and face masks, were also found to be overpriced or substandard.