The House of Representatives’ parallel investigation into the government’s procurement of supposed overpriced COVID-19 pandemic supplies is obviously an attempt to divert the attention away from President Duterte who has been defending his former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang, Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said on Tuesday.

"It’s quite obvious ang HOR allies ng Palace. It’s doing everything it can to divert the issue. They are even hitting the Senate’s investigation,” Lacson said in an interview on ANC’s Headstart.

Lacson also scored House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability chair Michael Aglipay for announcing that the Senate is intimidating or harassing its witnesses and resource persons during the Blue Ribbon Committee’s probe into the controversy.

“Chairman Mike Aglipay announcing ang Senate ginigipit ang witnesses. There’s no interparliamentary courtesy. It’s thrown out the window,” the senator lamented.

“If you can’t make something out of that statement, obvious ang parallel investigation ng HOR is to protect the interest of Malacanang. I cannot understand bakit pinoprotect ang Malacanang, walang naglilink sa Malacanang sa anomalous transactions ng Pharmally (why they are protecting Malacanang. No one is linking Malacanang to anomalous transactions with Pharmally),” he pointed out.

Lacson, likewise, questioned Duterte’s “all-out” defense against Yang noting how the Chief Executive’s “Talk to the Nation” is becoming frequent yet only centers on one topic—"defending Pharmally and hitting the Senate.”

“Being an investigator I always go by evidence. We can always speculate based on circumstances. But at the end of the day where are talking here about the evidence,” he said.

The senator said the special treatment accorded to Pharmally, particularly since it was favored by the Department of Budget and Management’s Procurement Service (DBM-PS) despite being undercapitalized, is very evident.

“The overpricing is so evident, the special treatment to Pharmally is also evident. Where can you find something when even without a purchase order, they can deliver? And the figures that we see during the hearing shows there is a huge disparity in the prices of supplies delivered by the firm,” he stressed.

He said the House probe should not disregard the fact there were violations committed by Pharmally when it disregarded procurement procedures under the Bayanihan Law 1, and also the Government Procurement Policy Board’s (GPPB) resolution dated last March 9, 2020.

“Bakit ganoon sila katapang? Pag-disregard sa procurement malinaw sa Bayanihan 1 (Why are they that plucky? It was clear they disregarded procurement procedures that are clear under Bayanihan 1) and followed by the GPPB resolution in March 9, nakalagay (it states they should be) legally technically and financially capable,” he pointed out.

“Di tiningnan ang ITR, paano sabihin financially capable ang capital P625,000 lang (Why did they not check the income tax return, so how can they said they are financially capable when Pharmally only has a capital of P625,000)?” Lacson dared.