Hontiveros tells ex-PS-DBM chief Lao: Name 'big boss' in Pharmally scandal

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday urged Lloyd Christopher Lao, the former officer-in-charge of the Department of Budget and Management - Procurement Service (PS-DBM), to name the "big boss" behind the controversial COVID-19 supplies procurement.

Hontiveros, one of the senators who actively participated in the Senate's investigation on the Pharmally scandal during the 18th Congress, made the statement after Lao was arrested in Davao City earlier in the day.

"Time to face the music, Atty. Lao. Oras na para harapin mo ang mga kaso laban sa'yo. Ngayong nasa kamay na siya ng batas, aminin na rin sana niya kung sino nga ba ang 'big boss' na may pakana at nakinabang sa korapsyon sa bilyon-bilyong COVID–19 funds," Hontiveros said.

(We hope he will reveal who the big boss is, who orchestrated this and benefited from the corruption of the billions in COVID-19 funds.)

Hontiveros added that Lao and his corhots should be held accountable for the "abuse" of public funds during the time of a public health emergency.

"Kailangang managot si Atty. Lao at ang mga kasabwat niya, sa pang-abuso at pagkamkam sa kaban ng bayan, habang maraming Pilipino ang may sakit, nagugutom at walang hanapbuhay noong kasagsagan ng COVID-19 pandemic," she said.

(Atty. Lao and his accomplices must be held accountable for their abuse of power and plunder of the nation's coffers, especially during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when many Filipinos were suffering from illness, hunger, and unemployment.)

Further, Hontiveros said that Lao's arrest "should serve as a lesson to all who misuse and abuse their public positions to serve evil ends."

"Anumang pagtatago at pag-mamagic ninyo, hindi niyo maiiwasan ang pananagutan ninyo sa batas at sa bayan," she ended.

(No matter how you try to hide or use magic, you cannot escape your responsibility to the law and the nation.)

In a separate statement, former Senator Richard "Dick" Gordon, the ex-chairperson of the Senate Blue Ribbon which investigated the Pharmally controversy,  welcomed Lao's arrest and hoped that "other perpetrators" will soon be arrested too.

However, the former senator expressed reservations about the graft case filed against him.

"I still submit that the charges filed must not be mere violations of the Anti-Graft Law (RA 3019), but plunder-- making the offenses non-bailable, given the amount involved and the fact that the amounts were stolen at a time of great peril to our people of this country," Gordon, a lawyer, said.

"The bail set at P90,000 appears to be very small compared to the billions of pesos stolen from the Filipino people, when Mr. Lao and his cohorts: Michael Yang, Mohit and Twinkle Dargani, Lin Weixiong, and Linconn Ong among others conspired to plunder more than 11 billion pesos," he noted.

Gordon also stood by his report as the Senate Blue Ribbon committee's chairman that Duterte should be liable on the Pharmally controversy.

"They conspired to steal the money. Anti-Money Laundering Council failed to do its job by not following the money trail given the amounts involved. Then-President [Rodrigo] Duterte intimidated the COA. The perpetrators, emboldened by the protection of then-President Rodrigo Duterte, as
shown by not allowing his cabinet members to testify in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings, operated with impunity," Gordon said.

"The Filipino people deserve no less than the incarceration in prison of Duterte, Lao, Yang, and the rest of their ilk, they have blood in their hands," Gordon ended.

Lao has been served with an arrest warrant issued by the Sandiganbayan dated September 12 for an anti-graft and corrupt practices law offense.

The bail is set at P90,000.

In August, the Office of the Ombudsman filed graft charges against Lao and former Health Secretary Francisco Duque III over an alleged illegal fund transfer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the criminal information that was filed with the Sandiganbayan, the Department of Health's (DOH) transfer of P41 billion to the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) in 2020 during the height of the pandemic was illegal and without basis.

The fund was for the procurement of medical supplies for the pandemic, including detection kits, nucleic acid extraction machines, mechanical ventilators, personal protective equipment, surgical masks, cadaver bag, and various test kits.

The Ombudsman said Duque authorized the transfer of the fund even though it would not hasten the implementation of the project and despite the fact that the DOH had the capacity and proficiency to undertake the procurement.

Lao was charged with graft since the PS-DBM, where he served as executive director, accepted the P41-billion fund transfer and subjected the DOH procurement to a 4% service fee amounting to at least P1.65 billion.

Duque has said the graft charge is baseless but expressed confidence that he would be able to prove his innocence before the Sandiganbayan.—LDF, GMA Integrated News