The Sandiganbayan has granted the motion of the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) to withdraw, for further study, the six graft cases on the alleged irregular purchase of P4.165 billion worth of RT-PCR kits for the Department of Health's (DOH's) Covid-19 response in 2020.

The purchases were done by the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) through Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation which reportedly had only P625,000 in paid-up capital.

Charged in the six cases were former PS-DBM undersecretary Christopher Lloyd A. Lao, then overall deputy Ombudsman Warren Rex H. Liong, Procurement Management officer VI Augusto Menchavez Ylagan, and Procurement Management officer V Webster Marmol Laurenana.

Also charged were Procurement Management officer Paul Jasper Villanueva De Guzman, director IV Christine Maria Lecaros Suntay, division chief of Procurement Division VI Jasonmer Lagarto Uayan, Pharmally's President and Director Twinkle Dargani, Mohit Dargani, Linconn Uy Ong, Director Justine Garado, Board Member Huang Tzu Yen, employee Krizzle Grace Ukkong Mago, and Financial Manager Lin Weixiong.

The anti-graft court said it granted the withdrawal of the cases “without prejudice to their refiling.”

The prosecution moved to withdraw the cases after Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said last October 13 that there are “some details lacking” in the charges.

“I want to know the details put in the cases,” Remulla said. “It’s very important for the Sandiganbayan to have a good grasp of the cases immediately,” he added.

The Sandiganbayan said that the incumbent Ombudsman has the power to revoke or alter the rulings of a predecessor within the bounds of law.

It said: "Thus, this Court adheres to the general rule that courts do not interfere with the Office of the Ombudsman's determination of probable cause except when it acted with grave abuse of discretion. Nevertheless, though the Office of the Ombudsman may have full discretionary powers to determine whether a criminal case should be filed before the Sandiganbayan, full control over the criminal case passes to the latter once a case is filed."

Thus, it ruled that it is "appropriate" to grant the withdrawal of the cases despite its earlier finding of probable cause.

It said that the withdrawal of the cases will not cause inordinate delay or violation of the accused's right to speedy disposition of the cases, nor will it cause double jeopardy.

"As a final note, we reiterate that whether or not the Ombudsman has correctly discharged his function, i.e., whether or not he has made a correct assessment of the evidence of probable cause in a case, is a matter that the court may not be compelled to pass upon," the court added.

The eight-page resolution dated Nov. 7, 2025 was written by Fifth Division Chairperson Associate Justice Maria Theresa V. Mendoza-Arcega with the concurrence of Associate Justices Juliet M. Manalo-San Gaspar and Lord A. Villanueva.