MANILA, Philippines — Former budget undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao’s arrest may lead to the “big boss” behind the Pharmally mess, Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday, September 18, said.
Lao was the head of the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) during the time of former president Rodrigo Duterte. A total of P47.6 billion was transferred from the Department of Health to the DBM-PS to procure COVID-19 supplies during the pandemic.
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“Ngayong nasa kamay na siya ng batas, aminin na rin sana niya kung sino nga ba ang ‘big boss’ na may pakana at nakinabang sa korapsyon sa bilyon-bilyong COVID-19 funds. Kailangang managot si Atty. Lao at ang mga kasabwat niya, sa pang-abuso at pagkamkam sa kaban ng bayan, habang maraming Pilipino ang may sakit, nagugutom at walang hanapbuhay noong kasagsagan ng COVID-19 pandemic,” Hontiveros said.
(Now that he is in the hands of the law, he should confess who is the real ‘big boss’ who is responsible and benefited from the corruption of billions of COVID-19 funds. Atty. Lao and his associates should be held accountable for the abuses and misuse of public funds while many were sick, starving, and without work.)
The arrest comes as vindication for Hontiveros, who has been pushing for accountability in the Pharmally scandal since the previous administration.
During the 18th Congress, Hontiveros was part of the Senate blue ribbon committee that investigated the Pharmally mess. The committee report was not able to secure the support of the panel, falling two signatures short in order to be transmitted to plenary deliberations.
Out of the senators who signed the committee report, only two remain in the Senate, and they are now the minority bloc: namely Hontiveros and Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel.
The Senate investigation, however, unveiled several anomalies, such as overpriced personal protective equipment.
“Atty. Lao’s arrest should serve as a lesson to all who misuse and abuse their public positions to serve evil ends,” Hontiveros said.
Former Health Secretary Francisco Duque in June said that the controversial transfer of funds was a directive of Duterte, a finding that was already in the Senate blue ribbon committee report.