The Sandiganbayan has commenced the trial on graft charges filed against former Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III and former PS-DBM Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao in connection with the alleged anomalous transfer of billions of pesos for the purchase of COVID-19 medical supplies and equipment.
This comes after the case was referred to the first division of the anti-graft court on Friday, which will determine if there is probable cause to issue an arrest order against the two.
It can be recalled that Duque and Lao became subjects of an Ombudsman investigation following complaints filed by Senator Risa Hontiveros and former Senator Richard Gordon on May 8.
The Senators argued that the DOH’s bids and awards committee should have directly procured the necessary supplies to address the COVID-19 pandemic instead of relying on PS-DBM, which incurred a P1.659 billion service fee.
Earlier, the Ombudsman filed graft charges against Duque and Lao on Tuesday, which were made public this Friday. According to the criminal information filed with the Sandiganbayan, the transfer of P41 billion from the DOH to PS-DBM during the height of the pandemic was illegal and baseless.