Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao on Wednesday, Sept.1, said he feels vindicated following the release of the Commission on Audit’s (COA) annual report flagging the Department of Health’s (DOH) use of its P63.7-billion COVID-19 response funds.
President Duterte and his allies had earlier clapped back on Pacquiao after he exposed government offices and officials allegedly involved in corruption. Both Duterte and Pacquiao are party mates in the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban).
One of the agencies the boxing icon-turned senator tagged in corruption was the DOH, whom the President continues to defend despite the controversies hounding its pandemic response.
Hours before flying to the United States to prepare for his boxing match, Pacquiao added the Departments of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Energy (DOE), and Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to his list of “most corrupt.”
“I really feel vindicated, because timing din na naglabas ang COA ng report nila and yung mga sinabi ko ay hindi mga watusi, kundi malaking issue ito (because the release of the COA report was also timing and what I exposed were not just a firework. This is really a big issue),” Pacquiao said in an interview on ANC’s Headstart.
The Senate has started its investigation into the COA report zeroing in on the DOH’s transfer of P42-billion worth of funds to the Department of Budget and Management’s procurement services (DBM-PS) for the procurement of personal protective equipment, which lawmakers deemed were overpriced.
Pacquiao defended the Senate from Duterte’s jabs saying the institution is only doing its mandate as a legislative body in investigating the anomalies in the utilization of public funds.
“P67.3-billion (ay) malaking halaga po yan. Di lang po yan: may mga agency pa po na sangkot pa sa anmalya at corruption at hindi tayo titigil hanggat hindi po sila makukulong. Di lang matanggal sa trabaho, kundi makukulong (P67.3-billion is a huge amount. And not only that. There are other agencies that are also involved in corruption and we will not stop until they are in jail. Not only removed from their post, but also jailed),” the senator said.
“Yun po ang aking advocacy na makita sila sa kulungan at mabigyan ng hustisya ang ating mga kababayan (That is my advocacy to see them in jail and to give justice to our people),” Pacquiao said.
The senator also took the side of the Senate blue ribbon committee, chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon, saying the panel is merely doing its job of probing government officials’ culpability in anomalous transactions.
“Ginagawa lang namin ang trabaho namin as a legislator, as a legislative body. Nagi-imbestiga po kami in aid of legislation. Ang pag-prosecute po ay nasa kamay po nila especially sa judicial system natin. Kelangan magtiwala pa din tayo (We are just doing our job as a legislator, as a legislative body. We are investigating in aid of legislation. Prosecuting is no longer in our hands, it’s up to our judicial system. That’s why we still need to trust our judicial system),” Pacquiao added.
“At iyan po ang trabaho namin. Hindi po kami ang nagpapakulong. Kundi kami ay nag iimbestiga lamang in aid of legislation at mag-recommend lahat ng may kasalanan at maipakulong sila sa kanilang mga ginawang kasalanan (that’s our job. We are not the one putting to jail. We are only invesetigating in aid of legislation and recommending those who should be prosecuted so they can be held liable for their anomalous transactions),” he said.