Former PS-DBM head Lao remains in hiding

MANILA, Philippines — Former Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) chief Lloyd Christopher Lao remains in hiding a week after the Senate ordered his arrest in connection with the ongoing investigation into the alleged multibillion-peso anomalies in the purchase of COVID-19 supplies by the Duterte administration.

Operatives from the chamber’s Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) tried to serve the warrant of arrest for Lao at his condominium units in Quezon City last Nov. 9, but the former official was not present, a handout from the Senate said yesterday.

OSAA security team leader Raul Herrera said he saw two mailboxes assigned to Units 324 and 326 that were under Lao’s name.

Herrera said Unit 324 was apparently unoccupied as no one answered the door while Unit 326 was occupied by an employee of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, the agency where Lao worked before he transferred to PS-DBM.

Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Ret. Gen. Rene Samonte said several teams will be deployed to Lao’s known addresses in the cities of Davao and Cebu to serve his warrant. He said OSAA officers are expecting to apprehend Lao over the weekend or Friday at the earliest.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Blue Ribbon committee chairman Sen. Richard Gordon ordered the arrest of Lao, a former election lawyer of President Duterte, a week ago after he was cited in contempt for skipping the hearings of the committee.

Lao is accused of favoring several companies, including Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., allegedly linked to Duterte through his former economic adviser Michael Yang.

Lao awarded at least P8.5 billion in contracts to Pharmally to supply face masks, face shields, PPEs and test kits despite having only P625,000 in capital and having no prior major contract with the government.

If arrested, Lao will be detained in the Senate along with Linconn Ong, one of the owners of Pharmally.

The committee earlier cited in contempt siblings Mohit and Twinkle Dargani, also owners of Pharmally, for refusing to cooperate with the inquiry but they remain in hiding while issuing statements through their lawyers.

Gordon said Lao couldn’t seek refuge in Duterte’s controversial memo barring his appointees from attending the inquiry, as he is no longer in government.