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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Drilon hits 'unmanly' statement of Roque on overpriced PPEs: 'Spoken like a true troll'

Drilon hits 'unmanly' statement of Roque on overpriced PPEs: 'Spoken like a true troll'

Published Sep 1, 2021 04:00 pm

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesday slammed presidential spokesperson Harry Roque for trying to divert the public’s attention away from the current issue hounding the Duterte administration over the alleged overpriced COVID-19 supplies.

“Spoken like a true troll. It is very unmanly and desperate of Roque to even mention my name,” Drilon said in a statement.

Drilon was reacting to Roque who during his regular briefing today claimed that the previous Aquino administration had bought personal protective equipment (PPEs) at a much higher price.

The minority leader is a stalwart of the Liberal Party allied with the previous administration.

The veteran senator said Roque should instead speak about the backer of former budget undersecretary Christopher Lao, who facilitated the P8.7-billion contract with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., an obscure firm, to purchase highly priced face masks and face shields.

“It is very malicious and it is a futile attempt to divert attention away from this organized plunder,” Drilon said.

“Ang ituro na lang ni Roque, sino ba ang backer ni Lao? Sino ang backer ng Pharmally (Roque should point who is Lao’s backer? Who is Pharmally’s backer?)” he further said.

The Senate blue ribbon committee is currently investigating the transactions entered into by the Department of Budget and Management ‘s Procurement Service (DBM-PS) with Pharmally Corp. whose officials are said to be close to President Duterte.

The probe stemmed from the Commission on Audit's (COA) 2020 report flagging the Department of Health's (DOH) handling of its P63.7-billion COVID-19 response funds.

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