Senator pushes more indictments over pandemic deals

Sen. Joel Villanueva —Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Joel Villanueva on Sunday urged the Office of the Ombudsman to exercise the same commitment to accountability by expeditiously filing charges against other companies and their officials involved in the questionable procurement of pandemic supplies.

He made the call after the Ombudsman filed a graft case against former Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and former Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao in the Sandiganbayan over the alleged irregularity.

“No one must get off the hook for being responsible for the misuse of public funds,” Villanueva said in a statement.

He lauded the Ombudsman “for taking the decisive action” of filing graft charges against the government officials involved. But the senator added that the personalities recently charged “could be just the tip of the iceberg.”

“Thus, the pursuit for accountability and justice should continue,” he said.

He noted that Lao was also linked to the procurement of overpriced laptops for the Department of Education (DepEd).

“We also await firm action on the case of the overpriced and outdated laptops procured by the Department of Education. From audit reports and various investigations, including that of the Senate, the deal reeks of irregularities that the antigraft court should not let slip,” said Villanueva.

“The government and the people have been defrauded by the transactions involving Pharmally and DepEd laptops. It was the people’s money that was pocketed and stolen so everyone involved must be held accountable,” he added.

Gordon also lauds raps

On Saturday, former Sen. Richard Gordon also lauded the Ombudsman’s for filing the charges against Duque and Lao, but argued that the “big fish” were excluded.

“This is only a partial step toward unmasking the real culprits—the big fish who engineered and orchestrated this entire scheme,” Gordon said in a statement without identifying who he believed was the mastermind.

“We must all support and encourage the Ombudsman to ensure that these key figures, responsible for the blatant and widespread misuse of public funds during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, are held accountable,” he added.

Biggest single contract

Gordon, who headed the Senate blue ribbon committee, steered its probe into the multibillion-peso contracts that went to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., a months-old company with a paid-up capital of only P625,000 when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

Pharmally bagged P11 billion worth of contracts to provide various medical supplies, such as COVID-19 test kits, face shields, and personal protective equipment, to the Department of Health. It was the biggest amount won by a single pandemic medical supplier.