NEWLY appointed Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday ordered the withdrawal of six of eight graft cases against government officials and Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. executives filed before the Sandiganbayan involving the purchase of over P4.1 billion medical kits for the COVID-19 government response in 2020.
Remulla said “some details lacking” in the cases, making a review necessary before they could be refiled.
“I want to know the details put in the cases. It’s very important for the Sandiganbayan to have a good grasp of the cases immediately,” he said.
Remulla also said he intends to consult with ex-senator Richard Gordon on the Pharmally cases to ask why some people involved were not included in the charges.
Those cited as respondents were former Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao, former overall deputy Ombudsman Warren Rex Liong, Director IV Christine Maria Lecaros Suntay, Procurement Management Officer V Webster Marmol Laurenana, Procurement Management Officer Paul Jasper Villanueva De Guzman, Procurement Management Officer VI Augusto Menchavez Ylagan, and chief of Procurement Division VI Jasonmer Lagarto Uayan.
Also charged were Pharmally president and director Twinkle Dargani, treasurer and secretary Mohit Dargani, director Linconn Uy Ong, director Justine Garado, board member Huang Tzu Yen, employee Krizzle Grace Ukkong Mago, and financial Manager Lin Weixiong.
Remulla declined however to say if ex-President Rodrigo Duterte would be included upon review of the Pharmally cases.
He also noted “something wrong” about the structure of the Office of the Ombudsman.
“Everybody was segregated and not working as a team. They were not connected to each other,” he pointed out.
Since “everybody was in the dark” before, Remulla said the preliminary investigating team and the prosecutors were not synchronized.
