Liong says he will inhibit should Ombudsman probe ‘overpriced’ COVID-19 supplies

Overall Deputy Ombudsman Warren Liong on Tuesday said he will inhibit should the Office of the Ombudsman launch an investigation into the alleged overpriced COVID-19 supplies procured by the government.

During the Blue Ribbon ommittee hearing, Liong said he will voluntarily inhibit should the case reach his table.

“I do not actually handle cases like this in the Office of the Ombudsman. I handle lower-ranking officers in the NCR. But to answer the question… yes, I will inhibit if it, for some reason, reaches my table,” he said.

When further questioned by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon if he will inhibit even if the case will not reach him, Liong answered in the affirmative.

"I would agree with that," he said.

Senator Richard Gordon, the chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee, has previously  said that a probe conducted by the Ombudsman on the matter would be “compromised.”

Gordon raised Liong’s links with the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) former chief Christopher Lao and President Rodrigo Duterte.

PS-DBM, then headed by Lao, awarded an P8.68-billion contract to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporations, a small firm that had a paid-up capital of around P625,000.

Prior to being appointed as Overall Deputy Ombudsman, Liong served as a director of the PS-DBM, under Lao.

He was also Duterte's election lawyer when he was the mayor of Davao City in 2007 and 2010, according to his profile information on the Philippine Reclamation Authority’s website.

It also stated that he was the legal consultant of the Duterte when he was still vice mayor of the city.—AOL, GMA News