Duterte blasts Senate anew, says Cabinet execs 'all clean'

As far as President Rodrigo Duterte is concerned, corruption in the government still exists but this does not involve his Cabinet officials.

In a taped address that was aired on Thursday, Duterte said his Cabinet officials are all "clean."

"Meron [corruption] sa gobyerno. I would be lying if I say no corruption. Yung Cabinet ko puro malinis 'yan [I would be lying I say there is no corruption in the government, but my Cabinet is clean]," he said.

Duterte, however, could not say the same thing about senators, especially Senator Richard Gordon, who has been at the receiving end of his tirades recently.

Gordon, as head of the Senate blue ribbon committee, leads an investigation into the allegedly overpriced procurement of medical supplies by the government last year.

Duterte, who maintained that the transaction was aboveboard, accused the senators conducting the investigation of "grandstanding."

"Kayong mga bobo na walang nalaman kundi mag-grandstanding. Wala naman kayong makuha [You are just grandstanding and you are not getting anything out of it]," he added.

A significant portion of Duterte's address was spent criticizing Gordon. The President even ordered Solicitor General Jose Calida to formally write the Commission on Audit (COA) to request an audit of Philippine Red Cross, which Gordon also leads.

Duterte said COA chairman Michael Aguinaldo's testimony during a separate investigation by the House of Representatives belying the alleged overpricing should be enough to conclude the Senate investigation.

“Ano pa ba ang gusto niyo? Yung Pharmally? Bahala kayo. You can slaughter what you want. Bahala na kayo [What more do you want? You can do anything on Pharmally, it is your call],” Duterte said. 

Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation is a small and relatively new company that bagged over P8 billion worth of government procurement contracts at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic early last year.

Senators conducting the probe are trying to establish the link between Pharmally and Chinese businessman Michael Yang, Duterte's former economic adviser. —KBK, GMA News