VP Leni hits officials behind ‘unforgivable’ pandemic corruption; ‘How can they sleep at night?’

Amid revelations of “unforgivable” corrupt activities during the pandemic, Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday, September 26, wondered how those involved can sleep at night knowing what they have done at the expense of the people who are already suffering. 

For her, corruption at any stage, especially during the pandemic, cannot be forgiven.

“Kapag nanood ako, ang isip ko lang paano kaya nakakatulog sa gabi iyong mga taong ito? Na ang daming Pilipinong naghihirap, ‘yung inisip pa nila ‘yung delihensya (When I watch, I think about how these people can sleep at night? When there are many Filipinos suffering but their mind is on making money),” Robredo said. 

The vice president was referring to the Senate inquiries into the alleged misuse of COVID-19 funds government contracts worth billions of pesos awarded to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Inc. Pharmally, a months-old company with only P625,000 capitalization became the government’s biggest supplier of medical supplies during the pandemic. 

Robredo said she hoped the public was watching the Senate hearings so they would know that what they read on Facebook and watch on YouTube were all “fake news.”

She is grateful that there are witnesses coming out to reveal the corruption in the government’s deals with Pharmally.

“Ang sa atin lang na pakiusap, sana walang cover-up. Sana lumabas iyong katotohanan para hindi na ito nauulit pa. ‘Pag may cover-up kasi at makalusot, paulit-ulit lang itong gagawin (My only appeal is there should be no cover-up. May the truth come out so this will not happen again. If there is cover-up and a way to get away with it, they will do this again and again),” Robredo said. 

During the Senate inquiry last week, Krizle Grace Mago, an executive of Pharmally, admitted that the company swindled the government by selling damaged medical-grade face shields. The company, she said, changed the production dates on the items to make them look newly manufactured. 

Aside from Mago’s admission, the Senate’s blue ribbon committee, headed by Senator Richard Gordon, also found out that some supplies were delivered to the government despite the absence of a purchase order. 

Robredo noted there were many irregularities in the government’s contract with Pharmally. 

The committee’s focus is to find the links between Pharmally and Michael Yang, President Duterte’s former economic adviser. He recently came to Yang’s defense, saying that he has been doing business in Davao City for a long time.

Though Yang is not the owner or one of the board members of the pharmaceutical company, he is linked with many of its executives, who are allegedly criminals wanted in Taiwan. 

Lincoln Ong, a director at Pharmally, also admitted that they asked Yang for help financially. He said that Yang was the one who linked them to a medical supply manufacturer in China.