The former head of the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service (DBM-PS), who was involved in the alleged overpriced Covid-19 supplies with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., has asked the Senate to give him clearance from any case so he can travel abroad.
Lloyd Christopher Lao made the appeal in a letter addressed to Sen. Francis Tolentino who informed the members of the panel during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s initial hearing on the Department of Education’s (DepEd) procurement of alleged outdated and overpriced laptop for teachers.
Tolentino, however, referred Lao’s letter to the members of the panel for their consensus. Lao was virtually present during Thursday, August 25 hearing of the committee.
In his letter, Lao specifically asked the Senate to give him a clearance or certification “that he has no pending case, contempt charges, and/or warrant of arrest before the Blue Ribbon Committee.”
“In view of the culmination of the 18th Congress and the consequent termination of the said Senate investigation, the issuance of the requested clearance/certification is just and equitable under the circumstances,” Lao said.
“Such clearance or certification will be used by the undersigned in requesting for the lifting of the Immigration Look-Out Bulletin Order (ILBO) issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ) as a result of the subject Senate investigation,” he further said.
The Senate, in the 18th Congress, probed the DBM-PS and the Department of Health (DOH) over the procurement of pandemic supplies, including face masks and face shields, from Pharmally which bagged a multi-billion contract with the government despite having only a capital of P625,000.
Then Senate President Vicente Sotto III issued an arrest order against Lao, and other personalities, involved in the controversy for evading the hearings of the blue ribbon committee.