The Sandiganbayan has granted a motion by the Office of the Ombudsman to withdraw six graft cases filed against former Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao and several officials of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.
The cases stem from the allegedly anomalous procurement of over P8 billion in COVID-19 supplies, including personal protective equipment (PPE), surgical masks, face shields, and RT-PCR test kits, at the height of the pandemic in 2020. The bulk of the contracts were secured by Pharmally from the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), then headed by Lao.
In a resolution dated November 7, the court affirmed the power of the newly appointed Ombudsman, Jesus Crispin Remulla, to revoke or alter the rulings of a predecessor. The motion to withdraw was filed by the Ombudsman’s office to allow for a reassessment and reinvestigation of the evidence.
The court said that while it previously found probable cause to issue warrants of arrest, it saw “no inconsistency” in allowing the withdrawal of the charges.
The Sandiganbayan said the withdrawal was not based on a finding of a lack of probable cause, but rather on the necessity to review the charges to ensure that only well-founded cases proceed to trial.
The anti-graft court ultimately ruled that it “deems it appropriate to grant the withdrawal of the Informations” despite the earlier finding of probable cause and issuance of arrest warrants.
The cases name Lao, former PS-DBM officials, and several Pharmally executives, including Twinkle Dargani, Mohit Dargani, Linconn Uy Ong, and Huang Tzu Yen, among others. The transactions became a subject of a high-profile Senate inquiry that flagged the little-known firm for securing billions in contracts despite having a minimal paid-up capital of only P625,000.
