Human rights lawyer and senatorial aspirant Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno on Sunday called on the Department of Justice, and the Office of the Ombudsman to take legal actions on the corruption allegations in the Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation’s COVID-19 supply contracts with the government.
“Ang panawagan ko sana sa [mga] opisina na yan, ay talagang seryosohin nila at talagang ituloy nila na mga nakita na issue ng korapsyon diyan sa imbestigasyon ng Senate Blue ribbon committee,” Diokno said during an interview on Vice President Leni Robredo’s weekly radio show.
(I called on these two offices to take the Pharmally issue seriously and to take legal actions on the corruption claims uncovered at the Senate investigation.)
“Kapag natapos ang Senate blue ribbon investigation, ifo-forward nila either sa Ombudsman o sa Department of Justice ang records para ituloy ang pagsasampa at pag-iimbestiga,” said Diokno, who is included in Robredo’s senatorial slate.
(If the Senate finishes its probe, the records will be forwarded either to the DOJ or the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate and file complaints.)
Senate’s blue ribbon panel has yet to finish its probe into the government’s purchase of P8.6 billion worth of face masks, face shields, and PPEs from Pharmally, a firm that only had a P625,000 paid-up capital when it entered transactions with the government.
In October, the panel released its initial findings, which indicated that criminal charges must be filed against Pharmally officials and former DBM-Procurement Service chief Christopher Lloyd Lao, who was involved in the questionable contracts with Pharmally.
Senator Richard Gordon, who heads the blue ribbon committee, said he is confident that their investigation would get justice on the controversial procurement of COVID-19 supplies.
Pandemic council
For his senatorial run, Diokno bared his plans to file a bill that will push for a pandemic management council, which will replace the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
He said this measure will ensure that the pandemic response will be scientific.
“Itong council na to dapat science and technology based and evidence driven,” he pointed out.
(This council should be science and technology based and evidence driven.)
“Ang kalaban natin sa pandemya na ito ay hindi armadong sundalo kalaban natin ay isang virus” (We are fighting a virus not armed groups), he added.
Moreover, he said that this council will also address gaps in contact tracing, citing the problem of the country’s “lack of centralized contact tracing system.”
Equal airtime
On the other hand, Diokno also calls on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to ensure that there is equal airtime for political candidates’ advertisements on television and radio.
“While nandiyan ang social media, hindi naman lahat ng mga Filipino naaabot ng internet. Ang talagang ginagamit ng kababayan natin dapat radyo at telebisyon, so dapat equal ang airtime ng lahat ng kandidato diyan,” he said.
(Social media may be available, but not all Filipinos can use the internet. They use radio and television. So, the airtime should be equal for all candidates.)
The Comelec had set the official start of in-person campaigning and rallies in February 2022. —LBG, GMA News
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