By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
For the past weeks, it seemed like the biggest scam in this administration zeroed in on “pharmaceutical ally” Pharmally’s deal for P42 billion worth of alleged overpriced COVID-19 supplies for the Department of Health.
Even I was drawn in by the “teledrama” of the Senate Blue Ribbon hearings and the rival “soap opera” of tirades from the President’s Talk to the People. The series continues with today’s episode expected to see the Senate further clamping down on Pharmally’s Dargani siblings and the company’s income tax returns.
More than the alleged scam being disadvantageous to the government, what alarms most of us is the President’s defense of the officials and business executives whom senators charge with connivance in this case. It becomes easy to conceive that Mr. Duterte uses his popularity with the people and his influence on the majority of the House of Representatives to buy them impunity.
What’s scary is that this tactic seems to be working to a certain degree, despite a very public and high-profile coverage of the corruption investigation.
Suppose Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. – a raggedy bunch of investors who could only muster P590,000 in capital – cannot be pinned down for bagging billions of taxpayers’ money. How else can you expect locking up top cronies on the stake?
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Not that we’re into cronies, but look who finalized a half-a-billion-peso deal with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) last week – Dennis Uy’s F2 Logistics. For a third elections, F2 is handling the delivery and return of poll paraphernalia, including the vote-counting machines and the ballots.
Let’s say that administration bets won’t be sweating over this. As far as President Duterte is concerned, the logistics are in the good hands of his 2016 campaign funder-“bestie,” Mr. Uy.
Of course, Mr. Uy has been on a roll in acquiring big businesses since the start of the Duterte administration. He’s gained control of over 30 firms from telecoms to shipping, real estate, gambling, and, most recently, that 45-percent stake in the Malampaya gas field he acquired from Chevron.
That’s a long story and – midnight deal or not, suspicious legitimacy handed to that deal by no less than Energy Secretary Al Cusi or not – the Ombudsman is sniffing around it for good reason. For now, all I can say is that their bestie in Malacanang is signing off in seven months. And if the right president is elected in May, their impunity won’t last very long.
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