Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 28) — Ombudsman Samuel Martires stood by his office’s decision to file graft charges, and not plunder, against officials and private individuals involved in the alleged anomalous purchase of billions of pesos worth of medical supplies from start-up Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. in 2020.
Martires said there was simply no evidence that would constitute the crime of plunder in the transactions covered in the resolution.
“Sino sa kanila, sa mga public officer — dalawa lang naman silang medyo high-ranking and that is (former Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service head Christopher) Lao and (former PS-DBM procurement group director Warren) Liong — ang nag-amass ng ill-gotten wealth?” Martires told reporters on Monday.
“Wala naman on record na nagsasabing nangomisyon ‘yung dalawa, ang maliwanag sa records is that PS-DBM favored Pharmally,” he added.
[Translation: Which of these public officers — and there are only two who are high-ranking and that is Lao and Liong — amassed ill-gotten wealth? There is nothing on record that says they received a commission, what’s clear is that PS-DBM favored Pharmally.]
The Ombudsman approved the finding of probable cause to file graft charges against Lao, Liong, and 11 others for unwarranted benefit to Pharmally in the purchase of thousands of RT-PCR test kits despite the company’s small capital and lack of experience.Senator Francis Escudero questioned why the Ombudsman did not recommend plunder charges considering the amount involved is more than the threshold of P50 million for the non-bailable offense.Former Senator Richard Gordon, who led the Blue Ribbon Committee inquiry into the Pharmally deals, also asked why plunder was not recommended.He also questioned why other big players were not included in the respondents, such as Michael Yang and Lin Wei Xiong who were identified as financial backers for Pharmally.Yang, a Chinese national who was based in Davao City, was connected to former President Rodrigo Duterte as his special economic adviser in 2018.Martires, however, said he cannot file cases against individuals based on testimonial evidence alone.
“Ang hirap nun patunayan sa husgado eh iyong he said, she said. There should be concrete evidence. If our purpose is to harass an individual, we can do that, pero kung ganyan ang magiging role ng Ombudsman, magre-resign na lang siguro ako,” Martires said.
[Translation: He said, she said it is difficult to prove in court. There should be concrete evidence. If our purpose is to harass an individual, we can do that, but if that’s going to be the role of the Ombudsman, then maybe I would resign.]
Martires said he plans to proceed with the filing of the Pharmally cases before the Sandiganbayan without waiting for parties to file a motion for reconsideration to avoid possible dismissal over inordinate delay.
