Senator Richard Gordon on Friday said the Filipino people got shortchanged after the draft committee report on the questionable procurement of alleged overpriced Covid-19 supplies by the government with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation failed to get the approval of the Senate.
Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, lamented the fact that some senators refused to sign the report as the report involved President Duterte.
“Puwede nilang sabihin (They could have said) ‘I dissent,’ ‘I disagree,’ o ‘I will interpellate’ dahil dadalhin ‘yan sa plenary ‘pag pumasa para pag-usapan (because that would be brought up in plenary so it can be discussed),” Gordon pointed out in an interview on Teleradyo.
“Tapos sasabihin nila, magre-reserve sila, mag-interpellate ako o ‘di kaya, will amend. Ang naging problema, walang nag-ganoon. ‘Halimbawa, si Risa Hontiveros, will interpellate o si (Ralph) Recto, sabi niya, will amend. Ganoon (dapat), (They could have said, I would reserve, or I would interpret or say will amend. There was nothing like that. Like Sen. Risa Hontiveros said she will interpellate, or Sen. Recto who said he will amend. They could have done that),” he lamented.
However, only nine senators, including Gordon, signed the partial committee report, two signatures short of being able to be discussed in the plenary.
Instead, Gordon in his speech last May 31, asked the Senate leadership to insert the whole report into the records of the Senate.
Gordon, who failed to win in reelection in the last May 9 senatorial polls, also called on his fellow lawmakers to let their countrymen know their stand on the issue, as it is their inherent right to know the opinion of their elected officials.
Before the move, the senator also revealed that he wrote to every senator, urging them to sign, and settle their apprehensions during the plenary sessions.
“Bago ko ginawa ‘yang (privilege speech), sinulatan ko ang mga senador. Ang importante ay malaman ng publiko itong report at mapag-usapan sa plenary (Before I made the privilege speech, I wrote the senators. I said it is important that the public knows about this report and that this be tackled in plenary),” Gordon said.
Pharmally, which is directly linked to former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang, was revealed to have questionable legal, financial, and technical capabilities, having only P625,000 in capital. Yet it was able to enter a multi-billion peso deal with the Department of Budget and Management’s Procurement Service for the procurement of Covid-19 supplies in record time.
Duterte, however, has repeatedly defended Yang against the Senate Blue Ribbon probe which investigated allegations that the Covid-19 supplies brought by the government from Pharmally were not only overpriced but also substandard.
Also, some of its officers, namely Twinkle and Mohit Dargani, were apprehended in Davao last November for attempting to flee the country.
The male Dargani and Linconn Ong, another executive of Pharmally, were ordered incarcerated by the Senate for criminal contempt, as they refused to cooperate with the Blue Ribbon panel. But last June 2, Thursday they walked out of the Pasay City Jail since the Senate’s Third Regular Session has ended.
Also linked to the case were DBM-PS’s officers-in-charge Christopher Lloyd Lao and Warren Rex Liong, who were known Duterte appointees.