The Sandiganbayan has granted the request of the Office of the Ombudsman to withdraw six graft charges filed against former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao and several officials of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. over the alleged anomalous procurement of more than P8 billion worth of Covid-19 supplies at the height of the pandemic.

In an eight-page resolution dated 7 November, the anti-graft court affirmed that Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla has the authority to review and reassess pending cases, including those filed during the term of his predecessor.

According to the ruling, “the sitting Ombudsman has the power to revoke or alter the rulings of his predecessor within the bounds of law,” and courts generally refrain from interfering with the Ombudsman’s determination of probable cause unless grave abuse of discretion is established.

Remulla earlier ordered the withdrawal of unarraigned Pharmally-related cases to ensure a full reassessment of the evidence. “Details are actually very important to these cases. I want the Sandiganbayan to have a good grasp of the cases immediately during the start of my term here,” he said in October.

While the court noted that it gains jurisdiction once information is filed, it found no lack of probable cause in allowing the withdrawal, stressing that the move aims to reinvestigate the complaints rather than dismiss them for insufficiency of evidence.

“This Court sees no inconsistency in its previous finding of probable cause for the purpose of issuing the warrants of arrest and in allowing the withdrawal of the Informations,” the resolution reads.

The procurement controversy stemmed from the government’s purchase of PPE, face shields, surgical masks, and RT-PCR test kits from Pharmally in 2020. The firm, which had only P625 million in paid-up capital, secured more than P8 billion in contracts from the Procurement Service of the DBM (PS-DBM) led by Lao. The deals were flagged by the Senate for alleged overpricing and supposed preferential treatment linked to former presidential adviser Michael Yang.

Aside from Lao, the respondents in the withdrawn cases include:
Warren Rex Hernandez Liong, Paul Jasper Villanueva De Guzman, Twinkle Dargani, Mohit Dargani, Huang Tzu Yen, Linconn Uy Ong, Justine Garado, Lin Wei Xiong, Krizle Grace Ukkong Mago, Augusto Menchavez Ylagan, Webster Marmol Laureñana, and Christine Marie Lecaros Suntay.