“I will not become President if I am corrupt like you,” President Rodrigo Duterte told Senators Richard Gordon and Franklin Drilon on Wednesday.
Duterte responded to the senators after they claimed the President is “lawyering” for officials of the Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. that bagged P8.6 billion worth of government contracts for medical supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Drilon shot right back, saying: “I am not corrupt… I take exception to the statement made by the President.”
In related developments, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said he will again skip the scheduled Senate hearing into the government purchase of medical supplies on Thursday, citing the President’s order to the Cabinet.
Also, Senator Risa Hontiveros is facing a complaint of sedition and perjury before the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings involving Pharmally for the government’s supposed overpriced procurement of supplies to fight COVID-19.
In a 15-page complaint, Jaime Vegas, a Pharmally employee, claimed on Sept. 24 that Hontiveros presented a witness —Veejay Almira, a former warehouse man for the firm—who claimed to have been bribed and manipulated by the senator.
Meanwhile, Duterte said during his “Talk to the People” public address Wednesday: “Do not believe in their intrigues that I’m the lawyer, I’m this…”
“You know what Gordon and Drilon, the truth is, I would not have madeit to the presidency, from my mayorship to the presidency, had I been corrupt like you…had I been taking campaign funds from people who do dubious things along with members of Congress,” the President said.
“You are the ones who have irregularities there. You can’t get anything from us. It’s not in my system, the corruption and money. You can criticize me about other matters but not about money,” he said.
The President maintained that he never consented or was involved in any corruption in the government.
In October, Duterte officially ordered executive department officials and employees to stop attending the hearings of the Senate blue ribbon committee.
“They reminded me we have to abide by the memorandum order, so that is what we did, and we followed that memorandum order,” Duque said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.
“I’m not [attending] unless there is a reversal of the memorandum order,” he added.
However, Duterte acknowledged that he could be criticized about his personal life but not about corruption.
“My personal life, there are some who would like to criticize me and as a public official I have to accept the criticisms. But in terms of money, about being a lawyer, that’s a stale script. To be true, I would not be President Duterte if I am corrupt like you,” he said.
The Senate blue ribbon committee is looking into the transfer of P42 billion COVID-19 funds from the Department of Health to the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service (PS-DBM).
The President reiterated the Commission on Audit’s (COA) findings that it saw no instance of overpricing in the medical supply deals. He said procurement rules under the Bayanihan law were also properly followed.
Gordon is the chairperson of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
Since he joined the public service in 1986, Drilon noted he has faithfully adhered to the highest moral standards.
“I have strictly conducted myself within the standards embodied in the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and our anti-graft laws,” said Drilon.
He said his record is clear and his conscience is clean.
“In my 32 years in public service – nine years in the executive and 23 years in the legislative – I have never been tried for corruption in the Ombudsman or Sandiganbayan,” said Drilon.
“I have always endeavored to protect my family name. Aside from the laws that I have authored in my 23 years as senator, all I want to leave as a legacy when I retire from politics next year is my good name,” he added.
“Lately, Senator Hontiveros and Atty. Jaye dela Cruz Bekema were persuading (the witness) to testify against Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. in exchange for cash amounting to P20,000 and if he refused, he would not get any cash,” the complaint from Vegas read.
“The objective of Senator Hontiveros was to bring the government down by portraying that this government is corrupt and to solicit support from the general public to rise against the Duterte Administration,” he added.
Almira was a former Pharmally warehouseman. He accused Bekema of initially transferring P2,500 to him through GCash two times, and that when he made the video, he received another P10,000 because he could no longer work for the company.
Furthermore, he said, he was asked to transfer residence in exchange for another P20,000.
In September 2020, Almira said he sent Hontiveros a chat message seeking medical aid for his child who had a skin problem.
Pharmally officials were summoned to the Senate for alleged deficiencies in the Department of Health’s COVID-19 funds amounting to P67.32 billion in 2020.
