Newly-Installed Ombudsman Boying Remulla Speaks on Immediate Tasks
Ombudsman Boying Remulla confirmed that he will revisit the Pharmally case which transpired during the Duterte administration.
President Bongbong Marcos recently appointed Remulla as the new Ombudsman. He succeeds retired former Ombudsman Samuel Martires as the chief graft-buster. Undeniably, his appointment earned different reactions from the people including his fellow government officials.
The President has yet to appoint on who will replace Remulla as the Justice Secretary. Yesterday, the newly-appointed Ombudsman took his oath and he was also interviewed about his immediate pursuits now that he is the chief graft-buster.
Based on a report on Inquirer, Ombudsman Boying Remulla announced that he is planning to revisit the Pharmally case. The issue sparked during the Duterte administration and it is allegedly a multi-billion case amid the pandemic response.
Former Senator Richard Gordon urged Ombudsman Boying Remulla to revisit the Pharmally case asserting that former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte should be held accountable for allegedly defrauding the government amid the height of the pandemic.
Gordon was the chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee then when the upper chamber investigated the Pharmally case. Based on the report, the probe found that Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. won contracts amounting to P11.5 billion despite having a paid-up capital of only P625,000.
“We’ll look into that because it seems like it’s been forgotten, buried in oblivion. But these kinds of cases shouldn’t really be forgotten because we know the allegations have weight,” Ombudsman Boying Remulla said.
Based on the report, Ombudsman Boying Remulla stressed that the Senate conducted a hearing on the Pharmally case then but “it did not move forward”. When asked if former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte might be involved in the revisiting of the issue, the Ombudsman said it depends on the evidence.
“The responsibility will always depend on the evidence. We will go as far as the evidence takes us,” Remulla said.
Previously, then-incoming Ombudsman Remulla also claimed that he will open and study the complaint filed against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte.