BY RAYMOND AFRICA and WENDELL VIGILIA
FOR presidential aspirant Sen. Panfilo Lacson, the biggest mistakes of the Duterte administration is having “double standard” when it comes to allies and perceived enemies.
As an example, he said, President Duterte apparently defended his officials and allies who were linked to alleged anomalies at the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation mess.
“Sa tingin ko ang isang napakalaking pagkakamali ay yung double standard. Kasi kapag ikaw namumuno, iba yung tingin mo sa kaalyado mo, sa kaibigan mo, kesa doon sa perceived mo na kaaway mo na hindi kaalyado (To me, one of the biggest mistakes is having double standard. If you are the leader, you look at your allies, friends in a way different from the way you look at your opponents who are not our allies),” said Lacson in an interview with Korina Sanchez’ “Upuan ng Katotohanan” aired Saturday on various Kapamilya networks Saturday.
In the same program, Vice President Leni Robredo continued to pounce on her biggest rival in the presidential race, former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., saying he is just as guilty as his late dictator father.
Robredo, a lawyer and former congresswoman, said anyone who benefits from the wrongdoings of his or her parents is also accountable for their actions.
“Kung ang anak ay nakikinabang sa kasalanan ng ama, he is as guilty e. ‘Yung issue ni Marcos corruption, hidden wealth, at pagnanakaw. ‘Pag ikaw nakikinabang sa very act na hinuhusgahan yung tatay mo, kailangan ka rin husgahan (If the son benefited from the father’s sin, he is as guilty as him. The issue with Marcos was corruption, hidden wealth, and stealing from the public coffers. If you are benefiting from the very act for which your father was judged, you must also also be judged),” she said.
Robredo also said Marcos does not have to make an admission just so the public will know, because many cases involving their family have already been decided before the courts, several of which have even reached the Supreme Court
Marcos, meanwhile, told Sanchez he feels threatened with the disqualification case pending against him at the Commission on Elections, and that it is possible that his running mate, presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sarah Duterte-Carpio will become president if they both win and he is disqualified.
Duterte-Carpio, in a statement yesterday, said she is not entertaining the idea or looking forward to possibly taking Marcos’ place if he wins and later gets disqualified.
“Personally, I find talks about me ‘possibly replacing‘ a President Bongbong Marcos exceptionally unpleasant as – in reality – both of us are yet to win the elections. It is putting the cart before the horse. I am not entertaining the thoughts of a possible replacement as I also do not look forward to a scenario of a disqualified BBM – before or after the elections,” she said.
PHARMALLY, PHILHEALTH CASES
Lacson said that in the Pharmally case, those involved in the alleged irregular grant of contracts for pandemic supplies were apparently being defended even if evidence showed irregularities.
In the PhilHealth case, at first the President was hesitant to relieve the head of the state insurer but he was later forced to because the evidence that the Senate gathered was overwhelming, he said.
In August 2020, the Senate formed itself into the Committee of the Whole to investigate the alleged irregularities in PhilHealth, which Lacson said were were “mafia-like” operations inside the state insurer.
Among the irregularities unearthed were PhilHealth’s anomalous implementation of advance payments to health care institutions through the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM), overpriced purchase of information technology equipment, and manipulation of its financial statements, among others.
After weeks of hearings, the Senate Committee of the Whole recommended the filing of administrative and criminal charges against executives of PhilHealth for the irregularities.
On the Pharmally case, the Senate Blue Ribbon committee began investigations in August last year after the Commission on Audit flagged the P42-billion Department of Health funds transferred to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) for the purchase of pandemic supplies. The probe shifted to the Pharmally after senators found hat the PS-DBM awarded some P11 billion worth of supplies contracts to the firm which had a paid-up capital of only P625,000.
Last week, Sen. Richard Gordon, committee chairman, bared the panel’s partial committee report which recommended that charges be filed against Duterte for betrayal of public trust, among other cases.
Lacson yesterday said he signed the partial committee report “with strong reservations about the content” as he wants to interpellate the report “to get to the bottom of (the) Pharmally mess” if its gets to the plenary in May.
He said “betrayal of public trust” had to be discussed at length “because it could lead to the impeachment of a sitting President.”
“When I signed the report, I did so as vice chairman of the committee. But I did so with reservations. So, it doesn’t mean I support all its contents… At least for now, unless I am presented with compelling evidence, there is no basis for me to believe that there is betrayal of public trust,” Lacson said.
OVP PROGRAMS
The Office of the Vice President has suspended its COVID-19 response projects pending the Commission on Elections’ decision on the Vice President’s petition for the poll body to allow her office to continue implementing its programs during the campaign period which will begin tomorrow.
Robredo, the opposition’s presidential aspirant, said the Comelec has yet to give the OVP exemptions for its “Vaccine Express,” “Swab Cab,” and “Bayanihan E-konsulta” projects which she said should be allowed to be continue because these are badly needed by the public, especially because of the spread of the Omicron variant.
“Ngayon sinuspend natin dahil naghihintay tayo ng desisyon ng Comelec du’n sa exemption na hinihingi natin. Nagkaroon kami ng hearing last week. Ako mismo ‘yung nag-attend (We’ve suspended it for now because we’re waiting for the Comelec’s decision on the exemption that we’re requesting. We had a hearing last week. I personally attended it),” she said on her weekly radio program on RMN radio.
The Vice President has said the projects will be isolated from politics and vowed not to attend the initiatives so those would not be painted with political color.
Robredo said her office had to redesign the programs’ logos so those will not be identified with her as she pursues her presidential run in the next 90 days.
CAMPAIGN KICK-OFF
Robredo’s camp has been planning kick off her campaign in her hometown in Naga City in Camarines Sur with her running mate Sen. Francis Pangilinan and their senatorial slate.
However, because of the pandemic, the campaign team is also preparing to hold an online event since since the physical event will be have to be limited to avoid the spread of the dreaded virus.
The campaign team has said compliance with health protocols will be strictly enforced if the physical event will push through and participants will be required to present either their COVID-19 vaccination card or a negative test result.
The Robredo-Pangilinan tandem will are planning to visit other provinces in the Bicol region the next day before campaigning in Batangas and Laguna on February 10.
The tandem of Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and Willie Ong will kick off their campaign with a “proclamation rally” at the Kartilya ng Katipunan, near the Manila City Hall.
“The Aksyon Demokratiko proclamation rally will be from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.,” it added.
Moreno’s media coordinator Mel Cabigting said they will strictly implement the health protocols of the Inter-Agency Task Force Against Emerging Infectious Diseases for such events, including proper social distancing and the wearing of face masks.
“Comelec rules and regulations pertaining to political rallies and events will also be observed,” Cabigting said.
Moreno and Ong will be joined at the event by Aksyon Demokratiko’s three senatorial candidates — Samira Gutoc, Carl Balita and lawyer Jopet Sison.
MEDIA ADS
Lacson refuted a report that he has spent around P915 million in traditional media advertisements as of December 2021, thus now becoming the top spender among
presidential aspirants.
“No way we could have spent what we didn’t have,” Lacson said in a statement.
The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism on Saturday came out with an article saying Lacson has run traditional media ads worth P915.30 million as of December last year, when it was still more than a month before the official start of the campaign period for national candidates on February 8.
The PCIJ said data from Nielsen showed that Lacson ran the ads on TV, radio, print, and outdoor ads. He also shared ads with his running mate Senate President Vicente Sotto III, worth P215 million.
The PCIJ said the amounts were based on published rate cards or before discounts were given to his campaign team. Nielsen does not capture the negotiated or agency rates that are being paid for by the candidates.
Under RA 9006 or the Fair Elections Act, up to 50 percent discount is given to candidates’ television ads. The law is effective during the actual campaign period but campaign teams that spoke to PCIJ said they had received discounts this early.
With this, Lacson is now the top spender among presidential aspirants in terms of advertisements. He was followed by Moreno who has reportedly spent P735.44 million during the same period. Moreno also ran a few ads with Ong worth P390,000, the PCIJ said.
The Nielsen data, PCIJ said, do not include candidates’ spending on social media. Based on Facebook’s Ad Library, the Robredo camp was the top ad spender with P14.1 million spent.
She was followed by Lacson who reportedly spent P5.36 million.
Lacson said he asked his campaign team about the PCIJ report and “they insisted they never saw, much less, had this much money.”
“I asked them to check again — (and I got the) same answer,” he added. — With Ashzel Hachero and Jocelyn Montemayor
