Gordon: Pharmally case happened because Rodrigo Duterte an 'enabler'

Former senator Richard Gordon said Thursday the multibillion-peso Pharmally controversy would not have happened during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic without then-president Rodrigo Duterte serving as an "enabler."

Gordon, who previously led the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee that investigated the issue, made the remark as he welcomed the move of newly appointed Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla to review the alleged overpriced purchase of P4.4 billion worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) and surgical face masks from Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation in 2020.

"It would never have happened if wala talagang pasimuno at ang pasimuno ay si [former] President Duterte. Siya ang nag-utos, siya ang nag-appoint, siya ang nagproteksyon, siya ang nananakot sa Senado noong iniimbestiga 'yan, at siya ang nagpalipat ng pera kay [former Health secretary Francisco] Duque," the former senator said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview. 

(It would never have happened without an instigator and that was [former] President Duterte. He was the one who ordered, appointed, and protected the people involved, the one who threatened the Senate when it was doing the investigation, and the one who transferred money to [former Health secretary Francisco] Duque.) 

"Ang enabler, si Rodrigo Duterte. Nagsimula 'yan sa pagkakaibigan niya kay Michael Yang, nagsimula 'yan nu'ng in-appoint niya lahat 'yung mga tao du'n, 'yung bidding process, pinabilis, walang nagbabantay," he added.

(The enabler was Rodrigo Duterte. It started with his friendship with Michael Yang, it started when he appointed all the people there, when the bidding process was expedited, when no one was watching.) 

Yang, a Chinese businessman and former economic adviser of Duterte, had previously denied any relations with Pharmally.

GMA News Online has requested comment on the matter from Salvador Medialdea, former executive secretary under the Duterte administration, but he has yet to respond as of posting time.

Last Thursday, Remulla said the Office of the Ombudsman will look into the Pharmally scandal as it seems to have been "forgotten." 

Gordon, on the other hand, said he would support Remulla with the investigation. 

"Nagkausap na kami at inaanyayahan nga ako doon sa Ombudsman. Talagang masugid si Ombudsman ngayon, nakakagalak ng puso sapagkat mukhang hindi niya papalusutin lahat ng katiwalian na nangyayari sa gobyerno. And we support him very much," he said. 

(We already spoke and he invited me to his office. The new Ombudsman is really enthusiastic, it makes my heart happy because it seems that he will not let all the corruption that is happening in the government slip by. And we support him very much.) 

To recall, former Ombudsman Samuel Martires, in May 2024, issued a resolution noting that it was unlawful for the Department of Health to transfer P41 billion to the Department of Budget and Management's Procurement Services (PS-DBM).

It said the PS-DBM was only allowed to buy CSE, a category that did not apply to the COVID-19 pandemic supplies bought with the P41-billion allocation. — VDV, GMA Integrated News