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Gordon insists Duterte liable in Pharmally mess; Ombudsman says paper trail is limited

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Adrian Ayalin, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Former senator Richard Gordon and former President Rodrigo Duterte. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/Karl Alonzo, Presidential Photo" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/08/28/20230828-gordon-duterte.jpg"/><figcaption>Former senator Richard Gordon and former President Rodrigo Duterte. <em>George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/Karl Alonzo, Presidential Photo</em></figcaption></figure></div><p> <br/>MANILA — Former senator Richard Gordon on Monday insisted on the alleged involvement of former President Rodrigo Duterte in the Pharmally graft cases which he also said should have been plunder, a position refuted by Ombudsman Samuel Martires.</p><p>Gordon, former chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee that investigated the issue, noted that Duterte had appointed former Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) officials Lloyd Christopher Lao and Warren Liong who gave the P4.1 billion COVID test kits contract to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation. </p><p>He also noted that Pharmally was financed by the former economic adviser of Duterte, Michael yang.</p><p>“Ang sinasabi ko dapat managot ang [dating] Presidente dahil siya ang nag-appoint eh,” Gordon told Teleradyo Serbisyo. <br/> <br/>“Pag tiningnan ninyo ang report ko wala akong pinalalampas... Kung titingnan mo ang ebidensya, may timeline eh nakikita mo lumalaki ang sunog pag lumalapit sa [dating] presidente,” Gordon added.</p><p>(The former president should be held liable because he appointed them. My report did not absolve anyone. There is evidence, there is a timeline. You&#x27;ll see the fire growing bigger the closer you get to the former president.) </p><p>Gordon said Yang should have been included in the resolution of the Office of the Ombudsman to file graft charges against PS-DBM officials and Pharmally executives.</p><p>The former senator added that while he was pleased with the action of the Ombudsman, plunder should have been filed against the respondents.</p><p>“Talagang plunder talaga iyan ninakawan nila ang taumbayan di ba?” said Gordon, a lawyer.</p><p>“Plunder iyan eh nag-accumulate sila ng kwan eh ng pera saka kotseng magaganda, saan nila kinuha iyan,” he said. </p><p>(That&#x27;s plunder because they stole from the people. They accumulated money, luxury cars. Where did they get the funds for that?)</p><p>Some senators in the 18th Congress had suspected Pharmally was favored by government due to its links with Yang. They also said the items it sold to government were overpriced.</p><p>Duterte denied there was overpricing and said the deals were above board.</p><p>Yang, a Davao-based businessman, <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/28/21/yang-denies-lending-money-to-pharmally-despite-testimonies">denied</a> lending money to Pharmally executives. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aiZIeZTGshI?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>Ombudsman Martires stood by the decision of the special investigation panel to file graft charges and exclude Yang and Duterte. </p><p>“There is no evidence on record that the financier was Michael Yang,” he said.<br/> <br/>“Pinapakinggan namin, may mga na-save kaming video ng hearing ng Senate, parang walang namang nagbanggit sa witnesses na involved si President Duterte,” he added. </p><p>(We listened to videos of the Senate hearing, none of the witnesses saod the President Duterte was involved.)</p><p>The Ombudsman also said the evidence they had did not point to the accumulation of wealth of any public official.</p><p>“Talagang lampas sa P50 million na sinasabi ng batas sa plunder, but we can’t file plunder, there is no evidence na nag-accumulate si Lao or Liong [ng P50 million]... Ang maliwanag sa records, PS-DBM or some officials of PS-DBM favored Pharmally, pinaboran nila by giving Pharmally yung kontrata,” Martires said.</p><p>(Under the law, plunder has a threshold of P50 million. We can&#x27;t file plunder since there is no evidence that Lao or Liong accumulated P50 million. What is clear in the records is that the PS-DBM or some officials of PS-DBM favored Pharmally by giving it the contract.)</p><p>Martires said that they could file supplemental charges if more evidence surfaced or some of the respondents become state witnesses. </p><p>“Well if one of the accused will turn state witness and say na naibigay nila sa kay Lao or Liong or any DBM official amounting to more than 50 million then we might reconsider conducting another preliminary investigation and amending the information,” he said.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_fjTU4cW6Eg?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Ex-Sen. Gordon insisted on the alleged involvement of former President Rodrigo Duterte in the Pharmally mess. 

Gordon insists Duterte liable in Pharmally mess; Ombudsman says paper trail is limited

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Gordon insists Duterte liable in Pharmally mess; Ombudsman says paper trail is limited

Adrian Ayalin,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 28, 2023 04:09 PM PHT

Read More:

Richard Gordon

Rodrigo Duterte

Pharmally

graft

plunder

corruption

Ombudsman

Samuel Martires

PS-DBM

Michael Yang

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