‘NILOKO NILA’ | No evidence proving Lao in cahoots with Pharmally officials, claims lawmaker

February 1, 2022 , 02:25 PM

By Beatrice Puente

(February 1, 2022) – Lawmakers found no concrete evidence proving that a former undersecretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) worked with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation to defraud the government, the head of a panel at the House of Representatives said on Tuesday.

Diwa Rep. Michael Aglipay maintained that Lloyd Christopher Lao, who formerly led the procurement arm of the DBM, followed laws and resolutions in awarding the contracts for COVID-19 supplies but he was allegedly deceived by the private firm.

“Niloko nila si Lloyd Lao dahil napakita nga nila na kayang kaya nila,” said Aglipay on Ted Failon and DJ Chacha sa Radyo 5. “‘Di naman kasalanan ang katangahan, ‘di ba? Paniwalang paniwala si Lao na magaling sila, malaki silang kumpanya, and qualified sila. Si Lao, sa lahat ng dokumento malinis kasi.”

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Aglipay said they suggested firming up the policies to better assess companies seeking to enter deals with the government. But he explained they cannot force the executive branch to follow their recommendations.

Two of Lao’s subordinates—Jorge Mendoza II and Mervin Ian Tanquintic—are the ones set to face charges for falsification of public documents after they admitted to signing the inspection reports even without the COVID-19 supplies yet. Aglipay said Mendoza and Tanquintic did not disclose who instructed them to do so.

Before working in the DBM, Lao served under Sen. Bong Go when the latter was still the head of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President. Go, however, denied this.

Aglipay, a pro-administration lawmaker, also defended his panel’s decision not to recommend charges against Davao-based businessman Michael Yang even if the company officials admitted that he served as their financier and guarantor. Yang is the former economic adviser of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Pinakanakita lang natin na siya ay nagpautang ng malaking pera, billions, sa Pharmally, so that means ‘yun lang ang kanyang participation. Hindi naman krimen magpautang ng pera,” said Aglipay.

Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation sold over P10 billion worth of face masks, face shields, and test kits to the government even if they only had a paid-up capital of P625,000. Issues were also raised about the quality and cost of materials compared to the ones produced by local manufacturers.

Aglipay, however, maintained there was no overpricing in the transactions since the government allowed the prices to be based on retail instead of wholesale rates.

He also stressed that the officials of the private firm cannot escape accountability since they lied to the government. He added that he was initially advised to recommend basic estafa against the six officials but he said it was more appropriate to push for syndicated estafa instead.

“Wala silang manufacturing. Unang una, sinource lang nila ‘yun kung saan-saan. ‘Yan ang unang violation. They grossly misrepresented their capability to join this bidding to the detriment of the Filipino people,” said Aglipay.

(PM)

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