Duterte: I don’t care about Pharmally, they should pay their taxes

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday evening said he "does not care" about the officials of the beleaguered Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation, saying that those who have not paid their taxes should be jailed or worse. 

"Wala tayong pakialam sa iba, 'dun sa hindi nagbabayad, ikulong ninyo yan. Kung gusto ninyo patayin pa ninyo. Hindi nagbayad ng taxes, kriminal yan," he said during his Talk to the People televised briefing.

[Those who don't pay taxes, imprison them. Kill them if you want. Those who don't pay taxes are criminals.]

Duterte had been criticizing senators as the Senate blue ribbon committee—led by Senator Richard Gordon—continues to investigate the transfer of P42 billion COVID-19 funds from the Department of Health to the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service (PS-DBM) and the awarding of supply contracts to companies including Pharmally.

Duterte said he was only concerned with his Cabinet men, whom he said had more "critical tasks to do" in the pandemic than wait around during the hearing.

"Sabi ko noon, right at the beginning, bahala kayo kung ano gawin ninyo diyan sa Pharmally na 'yan [I have said, right at the beginning, do whatever you want with Pharmally]. Pero for us, who are concerned with the supplies, it was delivered on time, inspected then paid upon delivery," said Duterte, who issued an order barring his Cabinet officials from appearing at the Senate probe. 

"'Yung Pharmally diyan na hindi nagbayad, dapat bayaran nila yan. 'Yung hindi nagbayad ng taxes, for all we care, those persons there na hindi nagbayad... then they all go to prison. Problema nila yan. Ang aking problema 'yung mga tao ko lang sa gobyerno," he further said.

[That Pharmally, they didn't pay, they should pay. Those who don't pay taxes, for all we care, those persons who don't pay can go to prison. That's their problem. My only concern is my people in government.]

In a previous Senate probe on the Pharmally mess, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon had flagged the reported non-filing and incomplete income tax return records of former Budget Undersecretary Christopher Lloyd Lao and Pharmally officials as well as its suppliers of medical supplies based on the documents provided by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

Aside from this, Drilon also discovered that Chinese businessman and Duterte ally Michael Yang only paid P7,600 in income tax in 2018 and failed to pay his duties from 2014 to 2017.

Last week, a tax expert told the blue ribbon committee that of the P7.2 billion in purchases the company declared in its audited financial statement to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, only P3.8 billion worth have supporting documents. — BM, GMA News