Former Senator Richard Gordon on Sunday, September 1 hailed the Office of the Ombudsman’s filing of graft charges against former health secretary Francisco Duque III, former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) undersecretary Christopher Lao and other government officials involved in the illegal transfer of Covid-19 funds from the Department of Health (DOH) to the DBM’s Procurement Service (PS-DBM).
Gordon, then chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, that investigated the issue, said he is elated over the filing of criminal charges against them before the Sandiganbayan.
Duque and Lao are accused of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019).
“This action addresses the controversial transfer of P41.464-billion from the Department of Health to the PS-DBM from March to December 2020, intended for procuring COVID-19 supplies,” Gordon stressed.
“However, this is only a partial step toward unmasking the real culprits—the big fish who engineered and orchestrated this entire scheme,” he said.
Gordon said it is imperative for the Filipino people to support and encourage the Ombudsman to ensure that these key figures, responsible for the blatant and widespread misuse of public funds during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, are held accountable.
“The Filipino people unequivocally demand and deserve full accountability and absolute transparency,” Gordon said.
Sen. Joel Villanueva also lauded the decisive action of the Ombudsman, noting that Lao is also linked to the procurement of overpriced laptops for the Department of Education (DepEd).
“The personalities recently charged could be just the tip of the iceberg. Thus, the pursuit for accountability and justice should continue,” Villanueva said.
“We urge the Ombudsman to exercise the same commitment to accountability by expeditiously filing charges against other companies and its officials involved in the Pharmally scandal,” he stressed.
“No one must get off the hook for being responsible for the misuse of public funds,” the lawmaker added.
Villanueva also said he is anticipating the Ombudsman’s actions regarding the case of the overpriced and outdated laptops procured by the DepEd.
“From audit reports and various investigations including that of the Senate, the deal reeks of irregularities that the anti-graft court should not let slip,” he said.
Nabudol po ang gobyerno at taumbayan sa mga transaksyon sa Pharmally at DepEd laptops. Salapi po ng taumbayan ang ibinulsa at ninakaw kaya kailangan managot ang lahat ng sangkot dito (The government and the people were fooled in the Pharmally and DepEd laptops transactions. It was the people's money that was pocketed and stolen, so everyone involved must be held accountable),” Villanueva said.