Remulla to revisit Pharmally corruption scandal
Newly installed Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla on Thursday said his immediate tasks would include a review of the multibillion-peso Pharmally case, the corruption scandal that left a smear on the Duterte administration’s pandemic response.
“We’ll look into that because it seems like it’s been forgotten, buried in oblivion. But these kinds of cases shouldn’t really be forgotten because we know the allegations have weight,” Remulla said after his oathtaking on Thursday.
He added that the Senate conducted a hearing “but it did not move forward from there, so we need to revisit it.”
Acting Chief Justice Marvic Leonen, who administered Remulla’s oathtaking, wished the latter “the wisdom to find and give priority to the strategic cases and issues that would lead to fundamental reform and rid corruption from our society.”
Remulla told reporters that he would review pending cases, identify those that have long been unresolved, and study the existing system to develop policies that would expedite case resolution.
“The first thing I’ll attend to, I think this is an emergency situation when it comes to what happened at the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways). We have to focus on that, build up the cases, and make sure that well-prepared cases are filed before the Sandiganbayan and the RTCs (regional trial courts),” he said.
Senate probe
When asked if the reopening of the Pharmally investigation might involve former President Rodrigo Duterte, the former justice secretary said he was unsure.
“The responsibility will always depend on the evidence. We will go as far as the evidence takes us,” Remulla said.
A Senate blue ribbon committee probe from August 2021 to January 2022 found that Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. won contracts amounting to P11.5 billion despite having a paid-up capital of only P625,000. It was the single biggest chunk of government contracts for COVID-19 supplies awarded to private companies at the time.
The contracts included 8,000 BGI real-time fluorescent RT-PCR test kits amounting to P600 million; 2,000 A*Star Fortitude RT-PCR test kits worth P688 million; and 41,400 BGI real-time fluorescent RT-PCR kits worth P2.877 billion.
Former Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon, who led the probe as chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, earlier urged Remulla to revisit the case and asserted that Duterte should be held responsible for defrauding the government at the height of the pandemic.
“I’m saying he was part and parcel of a conspiracy to fleece the country of at least P11 billion to P47 billion in the Pharmally scandal,” Gordon said in an interview on One News.
“Now is the time for all good men to come together because if we do not do that, then forever the Filipino is [going to] be victimized by these people,” he added.
The Senate inquiry culminated in a draft committee report that endorsed criminal charges against several public officials and private individuals but was archived at the close of the 18th Congress in June 2022 due to lack of signatures.
In August 2023, the Office of the Ombudsman endorsed graft charges against Lloyd Christopher Lao.
Lao, a former budget undersecretary, together with Overall Deputy Ombudsman Warren Rex Liong, procurement management officer Paul Jasper de Guzman, and former procurement division chief Webster Laureñana were also held administratively liable for grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, serious dishonesty, and conduct detrimental to the service’s best interests.
Among the penalties imposed on the officials were dismissal from the service, forfeiture of all retirement benefits, and a lifetime ban on government service.
Former Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) officers Christine Marie Suntay, Jasonmer Uayan, and August Ylagan were also found guilty of gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interests of the service and given the same penalties.
In August 2024, Lao and former Health Secretary Francisco Duque III were charged with violating the antigraft law by the Ombudsman in the Sandiganbayan for alleged irregularities in the transfer of P41 billion from the Department of Health (DOH) to the PS-DBM.
In September 2024, Lao was arrested but later released after posting P90,000 bail. He was charged with graft for accepting the transfer and subjecting the DOH procurement to a 4-percent service fee amounting to at least P1.65 billion.
In September 2024, the Ombudsman dismissed the administrative charges against Duque.
In July, the Sandiganbayan asserted jurisdiction over the case, ruling that it falls within its authority under Republic Act No. 10660, which covers cases involving government losses exceeding P1 million or those implicating high-ranking public officials. —WITH REPORTS FROM JANE BAUTISTA AND INQUIRER RESEARCH
