“Duduguin” sa laki ng piyansang ilalagak ang mga sangkot sa maanomalyang P14.6-B Pharmally ‘scam.’
Naniniwala si Infrawatch convenor, Atty. Terry Ridon, na ang inihaing mga kasong graft laban sa mga dating opisyal ng Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) na mas madaling patunayan ang graft kaysa kasong plunder sa usapin ng Pharmally.
“It’s harder to prove plunder, so it’s okay if it was graft. The bail (anyway) is amount-based,” aniya.
Sa laki aniya ng sangkot na halaga na P4.16 billion, malaking piyansa pa rin naman ang babayaran ng mga akusado para sa pansamantalang kalayaan.
Pinuri ni Ridon ang naging desisyon ni Ombudsman Samuel Martires, “The public has waited long and hard for the perpetrators of this crime against public funds to finally face the music and have their day in court.”
“The pillaged public funds could have been used to procure more vaccines and goods at the worst times of the coronavirus crisis. It could have been used to provide broader social protection to our most vulnerable,” dagdag niya.
Kabilang sa mga kinasuhan sa Sandiganbayan ay sina ex-PS-DBM chief Lloyd Christopher Lao, procurement group director Warren Rex Liong, officer Paul Jasper de Guzman, Pharmally executives Mohit Dargani, Twinkle Dargani, Linconn Ong, Justine Garado at Huang Tzu Yen
Sinampahan din ng one count of graft sina ex-PS-DBM executives Christine Marie Suntay, Webster Laureñana, August Ylagan, and Jasonmer Uayan, at Pharmally employee Krizle Mago.
Matatandaang, inimbestigahan ng Senate Blue Ribbon Committee ang maanomalyang pagbili ng 51,400 units of RT-PCR test kits noong 2020, na nagkakahalaga ng P4.165 billion.
Nabatid sa imbestigasyon na sa pamamagitan ng PS-DBM, tatlong kontrata ang nakorner ng Pharmally, kahit may startup capitalization lamang ito na P625,000, para sa pandemic supplies sa kasagsagan ng Covid-19 noong 2020 at 2021.