Connect the dots: De Lima tags Lao as go-to operator of ‘Davao Mafia’ led by Duterte

Senator Leila De Lima has accused former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao of alleged involvement in a “mafia” that’s supposedly led by President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Bong Go.

In a statement Saturday (August 28), De Lima said Lao’s appointment to plum positions showed he has strong connections.

Among the positions held by Lao under the current administration include Undersecretary of the Presidential Management Staff and commissioner of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board. He also applies for the position of Overall Deputy Ombudsman.

“Lao, it seems, is not your average well-connected guy, to be able to land all these plum government positions. He is, in all probability, one of the go-to operators and hatchetmen of the Davao Mafia led by Sen. Go and the President himself,” De Lima said.

The detained senator said the “Davao mafia” was the reason Health Secretary Francisco Duque III transferred P42 billion from the Department of Health to the DBM Procurement Service headed by Lao.

The DBM-PS purchased several billions of pesos worth of COVID-19 supplies for the DOH, which senators at a recent hearing of the Senate blue ribbon committee found to be overpriced.

Under Lao’s supervision, the DBM-PS awarded nearly P8.7 billion worth of supply contracts to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., which allegedly has ties to Duterte’s former economic adviser, Michael Yang.

“It does not take rocket science to figure out what happened in this transaction.

Step 1) Duque channeled the 42 Billion in DOH funds to Lao, who, in turn, directly reports to the Davao Mafia,” De Lima said.

“Step 2) The Davao Mafia, in turn, causes the awarding of the 8 Billion peso PPE contract through Lao to one of their Chinese buddies, Huang Wenlie, owner of Pharmally Corporation,” she added.

De Lima said Duterte’s recent criticism of Senate investigations was a way of sweeping the issue under the rug.

Duterte said in a televised address last week that the Senate hearings lead nowhere and were only avenues for lawmakers’ “posturing.”

“With one more hearing to go, several officials from the DBM and the DOH are still expected to be on the dock, unless the Davao Mafia silences them before they do,” De Lima said.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)