President Duterte asked Commission on Audit (COA) Chairman Michael Aguinaldo if he had ever taken any measures at all to hold Senator Richard Gordon accountable for his disallowances amounting to at least P86 million.
Duterte made the statement amid his ongoing word war with Gordon, who is leading the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee's investigation on the government's purchase of alleged overpriced coronavirus disease (COVID-19) supplies.
In his pre-recorded public address late Wednesday, Sept. 22, the President said Gordon must return some P86 million worth of public funds to the government, an amount that was part of the P140 million flagged by COA during Gordon’s time as Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman.
In line with this, the President asked Aguinaldo if he ever took steps to hold the senator accountable. He even wondered if Aguinaldo and the COA have received money from Gordon, based on the perceived lack of action.
"Ano'ng ginawa mo sa kaso ni Gordon (What did you do with Gordon's case)? Have you filed a case against him? Or have you initiated a case against him? Or did you report this matter to the Ombudsman?" he addressed the COA chief.
"Kasi ‘pag hindi, kasali talaga tayong lahat dito (Because if not, then we will all be part of the mess). That is... Why, because he is a senator? O nabayaran kayo lahat diyan (Or were you all paid)? Tell me," he said.
Duterte urged Aguinaldo to take immediate steps against Gordon and all those who may have been involved.
"You should start filing cases against these people. Ang tagal na niyan (This happened a long time ago)," he said.
"November 2016 pa ang disallowance, bakit wala pa ang kaso hanggang ngayon? Or at the very least, napunta na sana sa Ombudsman ‘yan (The disallowance was issued in November 2016 but how come no cases were filed? Or at the very least, it should have been reported to the Ombudsman)," he added.
President Duterte said COA had issued SBMA a notice of disallowance, which he said is different from a mere observation. He described the notice of disallowance as a "final imprimatur" that the state auditor has finished its audit.