MANILA, Philippines – Days after his office recommended graft charges against officials and private individuals tagged in the Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation mess, Ombudsman Samuel Martires on Monday, August 28, said there was no evidence that showed plunder was committed.

While the amount involved was more than the P50-million plunder threshold, Martires said the evidence should also point out who profited from the transaction.

“Natanim sa isip ng tao na kapag P50 million, plunder na ‘yan (People think if P50 million is involved, it’s plunder). But the problem is, sa decision ng (in the decision of the) Supreme Court in the Macapagal-Arroyo case vs People…the particular public officer must be identified as the one who amassed, acquired, or accumulated ill-gotten wealth,” he said.

The Ombudsman added: “Hindi talaga uubra ang plunder. Matagal itong pinagtalunan sa opisina sa Ombudsman, but that is the only evidence on record that we have. Wala kaming puwedeng idagdag, wala kaming puwedeng ibawas.”

(Plunder won’t work. This was a point of argument at the Office of the Ombudsman, but that is the only evidence on record that we have. We can’t add or subtract anything to it.)

In an August 14 resolution, the special panel of investigators of the Ombudsman recommended the filing of three counts of graft under section 3(e) of the Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, against the following:

• Lloyd Christopher Lao, former Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) undersecretary
• Warren Rex Liong, former procurement director, currently the overall deputy ombudsman
• Paul Jasper de Guzman, procurement management officer
• Private respondents: Twinkle Dargani, Mohit Dargani, Linconn Ong, Justine Garado, and Huang Tzu Yen

The following, all of PS-DBM (save for the private respondent), face one count of graft:

• Christine Marie Suntay, director
• Webster Laureñana, acting division chief of procurement division
• August Ylagan, employee
• Jasonmer Uayan, procurement management officer
• Krizle Grace Mago, private respondent

“Ang maliwanag sa record is that some officials of PS-DBM favored Pharmally dun sa kontrata sa test kits (What’s clear on the record is that some officials of PS-DBM favored Pharmally in the contract for the test kits). So…ang naging decision (the decision) was to charge them for…awarding the contract to Pharmally through manifest partiality or evident bad faith,” Martires said on Monday.

He added, however, that they could still “amend the information” and upgrade the case to plunder should one of the accused turn state witness.

“If one of the accused would turn state witness and say na naibigay nila (they gave it) to either Lao, Liong, or any DBM official amounting to P50M or more, then we might reconsider conducting another preliminary investigation and amending the information. Yes, why not?” Martires explained.

Pharmally was among the biggest scandals that rocked the presidency of former president Rodrigo Duterte. A string of anomalies was exposed in connection with the multi-billion-peso COVID-19 contracts awarded by Duterte’s government to Pharmally, a small, unknown company with a mere P625,000-capital.

An investigative report by Rappler revealed that Chinese businessman Michael Yang, Duterte’s former economic adviser and friend, has links to Pharmally. The company’s officials said Yang was their financier and guarantor, but the former presidential adviser denied the claim.

Martires on Monday said “nobody really pointed directly to Michael Yang as having participated in the supply of test kits.”

“Na-drag lang ang pangalan, but there is no evidence on record na involved. Tumitigil lahat kina Lao at Liong (It all stopped with Lao and Liong),” Martires said.

He said he would discuss with his staff plans to file the criminal information with the Sandiganbayan even without the parties’ motion for reconsideration. – Rappler.com