Arrest order out vs ex-procurement chief Lao

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate sergeant-at-arms is out to arrest former budget undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao now that he has been cited in contempt by the Blue Ribbon committee for snubbing its recent hearings into billions of pesos worth of alleged anomalous government supply contracts.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III yesterday signed the order for Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Rene Samonte to arrest Lao, the former head of the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).

“The Sergeant-at-Arms is hereby directed to carry out and implement this Order and make a return hereof within 24 hours from its enforcement,” Sotto said in the directive, following Lao’s being cited in contempt last Thursday for snubbing the last four hearings of the Blue Ribbon committee.?With the arrest order valid anywhere in the country, Samonte said the search for Lao is on.

However, he said it appears that Lao, who hails from Davao City and is the former election lawyer of President Duterte, has many addresses.

If arrested, Lao will be detained in the Senate along with Linconn Ong, one of the owners of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., the company that the former official allegedly favored with at least P8 billion worth of supply contracts.?Pharmally, despite having a capital of only P625,000 and no track record of undertaking government deals, was favored by the PS-DBM which has P42 billion in funds from the Department of Health (DOH) for the emergency procurement of face masks, face shields, PPEs and test kits at the height of the pandemic in 2020.

Earlier, the Blue Ribbon committee also cited Pharmally executives and siblings Mohit and Twinkle Dargani in contempt for refusing to cooperate with the inquiry but they remain in hiding while issuing statements through their lawyers.

Sen. Richard Gordon, the committee chairman, said Lao cannot seek refuge in Duterte’s controversial memo barring his appointees from attending the inquiry as he is no longer in government.

Senate quizzes Rose Nono-Lin

Meanwhile, Rose Nono-Lin, an official of Pharmally Biologicals, drew criticisms and ridicule from the public when, during her testimony before Gordon’s committee last Thursday, she said that changing luxury vehicles is not unusual in her family.

Lin, who is running for a congressional seat to represent the fifth district of Quezon City, was quizzed over her connection with the pandemic contracts as her husband, Lin Weixiong, reportedly is a close friend of former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang.

Earlier, she said her company is not a sister company of the one that dealt with the PS-DBM.

She also admitted in a previous hearing that they are engaged in various businesses, one of them as a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO).

Gordon asked her about having some P100 million in various assets.

Testifying online, Lin told the committee that her family’s wealth, including luxury cars and houses in posh subdivisions, were accumulated before the onset of the pandemic.

She said most of their wealth came from their investments and her husband, who remains in Dubai since April and is recuperating from COVID-19.

Gordon also asked her about her numerous luxury cars, and she replied that frequently changing vehicles is not unusual in her family.

She said the vehicles do not stay too long as they are sold when her husband decides to do so.

Lin said her family already sold some of their cars, including a 2018 Cadillac Escalade that was worth P8.9 million when purchased before the pandemic.

She said she also has a 2019 Toyota Alphard worth P3.9 million, a 2020 Toyota Land Cruiser worth P4.8 million, a 2019 Lexus LX450D worth P8.8 million and a Land Rover worth P11.9 million.

She claimed that she only “found” the Lexus in her garage.

Social media was awash with angry comments and jokes. “She is really insulting the Filipinos,” read one post.

Another said, “Let’s all leave our garage gates open tonight, baka meron sa atin magka (one of us might get a) Lexus.”

Yet another posted, “Maski Innova OK na sa akin (an Innova is OK by me).”

“Sometimes when I come home, I get surprised that there is a new vehicle. I also get surprised when they’re gone… it seems that when he (husband) has a friend who likes the vehicle (he sells it),” Lin said in Filipino. She said it is her husband who buys the vehicles.