THE Sandiganbayan has granted the Office of the Ombudsman’s request to withdraw six graft cases filed against former Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao and other officials of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. The cases were related to the allegedly anomalous procurement of over ₱8 billion worth of COVID-19 supplies during the height of the pandemic.
In a resolution dated November 7, the court upheld the Ombudsman’s “authority to revisit” and reversed its earlier decision. “Settled is the rule that a sitting Ombudsman has the power to revoke or alter the rulings of a predecessor within the bounds of law,” the court stated.
The motion to withdraw the cases was filed by current Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, reversing the action taken under former Ombudsman Samuel Martires. The complaints stemmed from the multi-billion peso procurement of PPE, surgical masks, face shields, and RT-PCR test kits from Pharmally in 2020.
Pharmally, with a paid-up capital of only ₱625,000, managed to secure over ₱8 billion in contracts from the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), which was then headed by Lao. Senate hearings later scrutinized the transactions, with allegations of overpricing and preferential treatment given to Pharmally through former presidential adviser Michael Yang.
Remulla argued that the withdrawal was necessary to allow for a reassessment and reinvestigation of the evidence. While the Sandiganbayan acknowledged the Ombudsman’s full discretion in determining probable cause, it asserted its control over case transfers once they are filed in court.
Despite this, the court found merit in the withdrawal, stating that it was not based on a lack of probable cause but on the need to thoroughly review the complaints to strengthen the case for trial. “This Court sees no inconsistency between its previous finding of probable cause for the purpose of issuing warrants of arrest and in allowing the withdrawal of the Informations,” the resolution read.
The court also rejected arguments from the accused that the withdrawal would cause “inordinate delay” and violate their right to a speedy disposition of the cases. “After careful consideration of the facts, allegations, and records of these cases, this Court deems it appropriate to grant the withdrawal of the Informations despite the previous finding of probable cause and the earlier issuance of the warrants of arrest,” the court said.
In addition to Lao, those named in the withdrawn graft charges include:
- Warren Rex Hernandez Liong – former procurement group director at PS-DBM
- Paul Jasper Villanueva De Guzman – Procurement management officer at PS-DBM
- Twinkle Dargani – Pharmally president
- Mohit Dargani – Pharmally corporate secretary and treasurer
- Huang Tzu Yen – Pharmally chairman
- Linconn Uy Ong – Pharmally director
- Justine Garado – Pharmally director
- Lin Wei Xiong – Pharmally financial manager
- Krizle Grace Ukkong Mago – Pharmally executive
- Augusto Menchavez Ylagan – former PS-DBM employee
- Webster Marmol Laureñana – acting division chief of procurement at PS-DBM
- Christine Marie Lecaros Suntay – director in PS-DBM’s administrative and finance group
