In 2020, our active Covid-19 cases were increasing daily at 1,000 to 3,000 and this sent government panicking and imposing extended lockdowns to lock up people in their homes even if government did not do enough, or did nothing, to provide the healthcare system with whatever it needed, PPEs, KN95 face masks, alcohol, oxygen tanks and ventilators.
It turned out that even if government belatedly acquired these items at highly overpriced rates from the administration’s friend, China, as it also did for Sinovac vaccines, the orders were made too late and so are their arrivals to be of any use.
And since there was no plan or distinct strategy (just like New Zealand had) to confront the COVID scourge, the administration chose to seesaw in its quarantine restrictions—often giving in to the demands of business and never mind if more people die of the virus and its evolve strains and variants.
Now our active cases have soared closer to 2 million (today at 1.98 million) or an addition of 22,179 cases in just one day and deaths have risen to 33,330 (or an additional 221 corpses in one day) and yet President Duterte has been using his meetings with the inter- agency task force on managing emerging infectious diseases (IATF) planning how to extricate his allies and (campaign) supporters from the mire of plunder and corruption, ‘teaching’ and ordering them to not honor the invites for the inquiries and to not answer questions asked of them even if they face contempt.
He said he would enjoin his Cabinet members not to cooperate with such inquiries.
In short, the Chief Executive—whose duty it is to uphold and abide by the Constitutional precepts on separation of powers and ensuring the welfare of the people through good governance and reducing bureaucratic corruption-- has been abetting and coddling those involved in malfeasance using his paid official time as president in defending them from such investigation and virtually clearing them of any guilt by saying he authorized those bureaucratic shortcuts and fund transfers—as if it made everything legal with just his say so.
Anyone who crosses his path (the senators and the Blue Ribbon committee) are now his enemies.
His decisions are being clouded by personal friendships and past favors and he seems to have completely forgotten that as Chief Executive he has a social compact with the Filipino people and not those Chinese businessmen and their links in the government.
“Anong masama kung magbayad ako ng utang?,” says President Duterte about why he appointed Lloyd Christopher Lao (who is now facing possible premeditated plunder charges with the Senate) to critical government posts.
He defended two personalities embroiled in controversies about the government's pandemic spending: former budget undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao and former presidential adviser Michael Yang. He spent the bulk of his meeting on August 30 with pandemic task force officials responding to allegations of anomalies tainting his administration's procurement of medical supplies for the COVID-19 pandemic.
The President said it was he who appointed Lao to critical posts in the government because he trusted the embattled former official who had previously worked with him in his 2016 campaign team, and when he was Davao City mayor.
He slammed the Senate hearing as full of "malice" and accused senators, particularly Senate blue ribbon committee chairman Senator Richard Gordon, of repeatedly interrupting resource persons like Lao or Health Secretary Francisco Duque III during the hearings.
If such type of questioning were to persist in Senate hearings, Duterte again threatened that he would order government officials to skip the hearings or refuse to answer questions.
Such behavior would typically lead senators to cite the resource person in contempt.
"If that is your vice, I will not allow any Cabinet member to go to Congress to testify," said Duterte.
"Kung mapuno ka na, you just stand up. Kung i-contempt ka nila, hahanap ako ng paraan. In 24 hours, I will extract you," added the President.
Senators had raised concerns over why a bulk of pandemic contracts went to a corporation that had existed for only six months before the pandemic, had small capital, and whose incorporators supposedly gave non-existent addresses. Lao had signed many of the contracts and purchase orders for this firm, Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation.
Duterte again tried to exonerate Chinese businessman Michael Yang from any wrongdoing in relation to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation.
Duterte described Yang as the contact person of Chinese businessmen who want to do business in the Philippines.
"Kasi si Michael Yang daw, negosyante ito adre, hindi naman ito nagtatapon ng pera. May contact ito sa China na malalaking korporasyon at siya ang nag [bagador], made their entry here," said Duterte.
"I thought, let us go to China and invite the investors here? There, they invested, but during the time of pandemic. What's wrong with that?" said the President.
In the same meeting, Duterte again lashed back at former anti-drug cop Eduardo Acierto, the law enforcer who had penned an intelligence report about Yang's alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.
"This Acierto, this shameless cop, this fool built up a case but he is the only one making those accusations," said Duterte in Filipino.
Duterte, who has branded himself as the enemy of drug lords, dismissed the findings outright and publicly declared Yang to be innocent of such accusations, Rappler said.
Duterte even campaigned against Senator Richard Gordon (who has shown interest in gunning for the presidency in 2022) by urging the voters to “ignore this lawmaker if he runs in 2022.” Gordon chairs the powerful Blue Ribbon committee, which conducted a 7-hour hearing that exposed more anomalies about the government’s pandemic spending.
"That Gordon, take him out.... You just teach voice, diction, and grammar, and how to talk and not be understood at all," said Duterte in a mix of English and Filipino.
"Huwag 'nyo ibalik sa Senado kasi magdaldal nang magdaldal 'yan, mag show off, magyabang. Marami 'yan, lalo na si Gordon," said Duterte in a meeting with pandemic task force officials in Davao City.
Duterte warned he had disparaging information about Senator Panfilo Lacson which he would expose in another speech. Lacson was among the senators who asked questions during the August 27 Senate hearing.
The President slammed Gordon for grilling former budget undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao. He said Lao, a lawyer, crumpled under Gordon's intense and lengthy questioning.
"Seven hours bugbugin mo 'yung tao ng tanong, mawawala 'yan (You subject a person to seven hours of questioning, he'll lose it)," said Duterte.
Lao signed many of the contracts and purchase orders of the government with its biggest and now most controversial supplier of medical goods, Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation. Lao also used to work under Duterte's trusted aide Senator Bong Go, though Go denies it.
The President criticized Gordon for his tendency to speak lengthily, something Gordon himself has admitted and his fellow senators have good-naturedly acknowledged.
He dwelt on Gordon’s habit of talking too much—which his peers have learned to accept.
"Siya ang nanalo sa talkathon, champion, puro daldal. He has that nasty practice of depriving others of asking questions.... The guy just wants to talk and show off to the world that he is a bright boy," said Duterte, who is also known for his ability to talk for hours during public broadcasts, Rappler noted.
Duterte said it was he who had instructed Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to use faster methods of procurement and to do away with public bidding for early pandemic contracts due to the urgent need for medical supplies in 2020.
"I was the one who ordered Duque. When we were here, I told him, 'I want it done immediately.' I told him it should only take one or two days. I was the one who told him, 'I am sure there is a law which would exempt you from bidding,'" said Duterte in Filipino.
Despite this, he said Duque still went ahead with conducting public bidding for some of the needed supplies.
As early as March 2020, Duterte was given powers to do emergency procurement to ensure the country had urgently needed supplies like personal protective equipment, test kits, masks, and the like.
Duterte also defended the pandemic contracts that were awarded to Chinese suppliers, saying he had asked for China's help in the early months of the pandemic.
Constitutional crisis
Duterte today warned of a constitutional crisis after he threatened to bar Cabinet members from attending congressional inquiries if lawmakers would “rudely question them.
In his taped interview, Duterte further vowed to “get them out” if Cabinet officials were to be cited for contempt by lawmakers.
“You would create a crisis here. Pag ganyang ang bisyo ninyo, I will not allow any Cabinet member to go to Congress to testify. Gawain na ninyo ang gusto niyo, kung ano ang gawain ninyo,” Duterte said.
“Kung ganoon ang treatment ninyo, sinabi ko na noon, that’s why I told the military also, ’pag kayo binabastos nang ganoong klaseng questioning, tumindig kayo,” he added.
Duterte issued the warning as government agencies like the Department of Health (DOH) faced a probe before Congress over the use of its funds.
“Kung magsabi, ‘You are in contempt,’ sabihin mo, ‘Sige, Sir, i-contempt mo ako, bahala ka.’ At mag-isip ako kung paano kita kunin,” he said.
“Same here, kung bastusin ninyo the way you’re treating Duque, he cannot even complete his answer without being interrupted. You stand up if mapuno ka na, you just stand up. Because if i-contempt ka nila, ikulong ka nila, maghahanap ako ng paraan. Makukuha ko kayo. In 24 hours, I will extract you,” he went on.
Duterte spent most of his weekly “Talk to the People” tackling the Senate investigation on the DOH’s handling of Covid-19 funds, even singling out Senators Richard Gordon and Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.
Due to the Covid-19, Duterte asked lawmakers to “consider” the agencies’ skeleton workforce in its inquiries.
“Now, I would like to suggest a way of action. For the senators, whatever they intend to do or whatever they plan to do, or whatever they want to investigate, kindly consider the reduced manpower of the departments,” Duterte said.
“Wag ninyong apurahin kasi hindi ninyo maapura yan. Mabuti sana kung tumutulong kayo dyan. So you answer me and then I will answer you again in a few days. Sagutin ko kaagad kayo.”
In January this year, the President also issued a similar warning to Congress over the supposed inoculation of presidential guards.
Tags: #RodrigoDuterte, #healthcarecrisis, #corruption, #SenateBlueRibbonCommittee, #DepartmentOfHealth, #Covid19