DEPARTMENT of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III and National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, skipped the resumption of the Senate blue ribbon committee investigation into the use of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic response funds.
A day earlier, on October 4, President Rodrigo Duterte issued a memorandum preventing Cabinet members from further attending and serving as resource persons in the Senate probe.
“Nagkulang kayo ng respeto eh, that’s the problem. You can have projections before hearing kung sino ‘yung tao na gusto ninyong tawagan, at you can schedule maybe after two witnesses you can call Galvez and Duque for something na kailangan ninyong malaman. Pero kung tawagin ninyo, paupuin lang ninyo doon, parang nilalaro lang ninyo kami, nagkulang kayo ng respeto,” he said during his his Talk to the People Address.
“I have issued a memorandum; this memorandum because we cannot allow blatant disrespect of resource persons at the ongoing hearings of the Senate blue ribbon Committee,” he added.
Duterte again took a swipe at Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee that is conducting the investigation.
He said the investigation is compromising the government’s pandemic response as the officials involved are being made to attend the hearings which takes several hours.
“Gordon, you are not God and you cannot play God. No. You cannot continue this hearing ‘till kingdom come.’ You are not a senator forever and the time of reckoning will come,” he said.
In response, Gordon said Duterte’s memorandum was “totally unconstitutional.”
"We [Senate Blue Ribbon Committee] are co-equal branch of government and we have the right and the duty to find out the truth,” he said during the committee hearing.
“Mr. President, ‘yong in-issue niyo pong memorandum ay totally unconstitutional. Wala kayong karapatan diyan, you’re violating the constitution. Walang issue ng national security, executive privilege at diplomatic discussions as mentioned in the case of Senate vs Ermita,” he added.
Duterte said he was not defending the embattled Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation saying the Senate can tear them as long as they want but the government, particularly his cabinet secretaries should be spared.
He said if there was enough evidence, the Senate should file charges against Pharmally in the proper court instead of using the probe as a “witchhunt.”
“Iyong Pharmally, I said gusutin ninyo nang husto. Tear it whatever you want to do with that company, huwag mo lang isali ang mga tao ko,” Duterte said.
Pharmally is being grilled in the investigation after bagging P8.68 billion worth of contracts from the Procurement Service (PS) of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the procurement of medical supplies as part of the Covid-19 pandemic response.
The Senate probe uncovered the link between Pharmally and former presidential adviser Michael Yang. (SunStar Philippines)