MANILA, Philippines — Former undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao, of Pharmally investigation infamy, resurfaced Thursday morning to attend the Senate's investigation into the Department of Education's purchase of overpriced laptops through the Budget department's procurement service.
“In view of the culmination of the 18th Congress, and the consequent termination of the said Senate investigation, the issuance of the requested clearance/certificate is just and equitable under the circumstances,” Lao wrote in a letter addressed to Tolentino, a copy of which was flashed at the Senate hearing that day.
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Speaking before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Thursday, committee chair Sen. Francis Tolentino disclosed that Lao wrote to his office requesting clearance allowing him to travel abroad after he went into hiding after the hour-long hearings over Pharmally. The Senate ordered his arrest at the time, but the order was never served.
Lao served as officer-in-charge of the Department of Budget and Management’s procurement service until he resigned in June 2020. During the 18th Congress hearings of the same committee, Lao was among those who were investigated after he signed off on all of the government's pandemic deals with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.
"The tenor of your letter was that you were asking for permission or be given a certificate allowing you to travel not in the Philippines but probably abroad, to lift your hold departure order," Tolentino told Lao in Filipino.
To recall, former Senate President Vicente Sotto III requested the Department of Justice at the time to place Lao and seven others under the Bureau of Immigration’s lookout bulletin.
Lao, who only attended the investigation remotely, eventually asked to be excused from the hearing.
“I would just like to manifest I am no longer the PS-DBM Executive Director regarding the DepEd laptops so I am requesting if I may be excused from the hearing because I’m no longer executive director,” he said.
Tolentino did not allow this, pointing out that there were still documents linked to the DepEd's procurement that were “allegedly signed” while Lao was still at the helm of the PS-DBM.
The committee chair said that the matter had already been referred to the members of the blue ribbon committee for their collegial decision, saying he would take into consideration "the expiration of the 18th Congress and the notion of a continuing Senate."
Once the probe wrapped up, Tolentino was among the senators at the time who did not sign the final committee report recommending charges against, among others, former president Rodrigo Duterte over the Pharmally mess.
— Franco Luna