Sandigan begins graft trial of Duque, Lao over P41.46-B COVID funds

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan First Division on Monday began the graft trial of former Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III and ex-Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Undersecretary Christopher Lao over the alleged anomalies in the transfer of COVID-19 funds worth P41.46 billion.

Their graft trial began after more than a year when the Office of the Ombudsman filed the case against Duque and Lao in the anti-graft court in September 2024.

READ: Duque wants graft case in Sandigan junked

In 2021, the Senate blue ribbon committee (BRC) started the alleged “suspicious” fund transfer from the DOH to the Procurement Service of DBM.

Prosecution witness Assumption Ingrid Reyes of the Senate Legislative Records and Archives Service took the witness stand, where she testified that her office has custody of the findings and transcripts of the Senate BRC inquiry.

READ: Duque grilled over COVID-19 fund spending ‘deficiencies’

However, Reyes said she had no personal knowledge of the allegations raised by the Office of the Ombudsman against Duque.

The Office of the Ombudsman also brought 127 folders containing documents from different government agencies submitted to the Senate BRC at that time. Most of the boxes containing these folders were later returned to the anti-graft body’s custody.

The next trial will be held on June 22, where a Commission on Audit witness is expected to testify.

State prosecutors said they plan to present around 60 witnesses throughout the trial.

Duque and Lao have not attended the trial. Both of them also posted a P90,000 bail each for graft in 2024.

READ: Ex-DBM exec tagged in Pharmally mess arrested for graft in Davao City

State prosecutors said that Duque and Lao “acted with evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence” in their capacities as DOH and PS-DBM head due to alleged irregularities in the fund transfer between their agencies from March to December 2020.

The DOH, then led by Duque, should have first determined whether tapping PS-DBM would expedite the procurement of protective personal equipment needed by public health workers at the height of the COVID-19 crisis, the Ombudsman said.

The anti-graft body further said that the DOH, as a procuring entity, had the authority to directly negotiate or purchase essential COVID-19 goods, making it unnecessary to ask for PS-DBM’s services. /das