THE House committee on good government has cleared the Duterte administration from allegations of overpricing in the medical supplies deal with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic while recommending charges of syndicated estafa against officials of the company.
“The committee found that there was no overpricing in the purchase of materials, supplies, and equipment by the PS-DBM (Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management) on behalf of DOH (Department of Health),” panel chair Rep. Michael Aglipay (PL, Diwa) said in a statement.
The Aglipay panel also absolved former presidential economic adviser Chinese businessman Michael Yang, who was accused of brokering the deal, and former PS-DBM executive director Christopher Lao of any liability, saying there was not enough evidence against them.
“Ang sagot ko po diyan sa tanong niyo kay (My answer to your question regarding) Michael Yang and Christopher Lao, insufficiency of evidence. The evidence does not warrant or is not enough for cases to hold,” Aglipay told reporters in an online press briefing.
The committee recommended charges of syndicated estafa against Pharmally executives Huang Tzu Yen (chairman), Linconn Ong (director), Mohit Dargani (treasurer), Twinkle Dargani (president), Justine Garado (director), and Krizle Grace Mago (corporate representative) who had backtracked on her claim that Pharmally swindled the government in the deal.
Aglipay said the committee discharged its functions “legally and fairly” and took exception to the comment of Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate that the report is “wanting, even disappointing” because “it echoes the whitewashing line of President Duterte that, if at all, only Pharmally and its officials are involved in anomalies — the scapegoat.”
“The report is very fair and very thorough in fact this morning the Makabayan bloc Rep. (Ferdinand) Gaite in our committee voted ‘yes’ to the report but only changed his vote this afternoon after five hours upon pressure from Rep. Caloy Zarate,” Aglipay said.
When asked why syndicated estafa is the complaint being recommended, Aglipay read a portion of the committee report stating that Pharmally officials solicited supply contracts from the government despite knowing that it was grossly unqualified to do so.
Pharmally was given billions worth of contracts by the PS-DBM in 2020 despite having a paid-up capital of onlyP625,000.
“These acts of Pharmally officials are grossly aggravated by the fact that these were committed during the height of pandemic. By taking advantage of the more lenient procurement regulations under Bayanihan Act One, Pharmally gravely abused the system to the insufferable prejudice of the government,” Aglipay said, noting the firm obtained and misappropriated funds worth P8.68 billion.
It was not Aglipay’s panel that first investigated the issue at the House but the public accounts panel chaired by Rep. Jose Singson (PL, Probinsyano) where it was established that Lao was a subordinate of Sen. Bong Go when he was he was special assistant to the president.
Aglipay has been insisting that the House is not out to defend the administration from allegations of irregularities but is only exposing the senators’ motive behind the allegations which he said are aimed at discrediting the President.
The Senate Blue Ribbon committee which is looking into the Pharmally deals has found links indicating Yang is the firm’s financier, among others. The panel’s partial findings released last October recommended charges against Yang and Lao and several other Pharmally officials.
Aglipay did not release the committee report, saying it can be done only with the approval of the rules committee, and that only majority leader Martin Romualdez and Speaker Lord Allan Velasco have the authority to make it public, a claim which contradicts the normal practice of committees of releasing copies of their reports to the public.
Aglipay said his panel found that the procedure on emergency procurement pursuant to Bayanihan Act One undertaken by the PS-DBM as guided by Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Circular No. 01-2020 “was consistent with applicable rules and regulations.”
“There was nothing irregular nor illegal in the procedure applied by the DBM,” Aglipay said, echoing the findings of the committee which conducted public hearings on the matter between September 15 to October 4 last year.
But the committee found that the requirements imposed by GPPB on suppliers under the emergency procurement of the Bayanihan Act One “are extremely deficient in genuinely evaluating the capacity of a supplier.”
The House panel also recommended charges of falsification of public documents against Jorge Mendoza II and Mr. Mervin Ian D. Tanquintic of the PS-DBM Inspection Division for admitting “they signed the pro-forma inspection certificate and acceptance report (ICAR) while the goods were still in China and without the requisite inspection being conducted.”
In connection with emergency procurement, the committee strongly recommended that the Office of the President and its attached agencies like DBM, PS-DBM, and GPPB, “consider institutionalizing standard requirements that can better gauge the legal, financial, and technical capacities of suppliers.”
The panel also recommended the abolition of the PS-DBM “in order to streamline government functions and services.” “PS-DBM has outlived its purpose considering that all agencies now have their own procurement department and BAC,” it said.
