Monday, August 30, 2021

Ping hits back at Duterte insults over Senate probe of PS-DBM. Panic mode ba Mr President?

Could President Rodrigo Duterte be in panic mode because the mess over the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service’s anomalous procurement of overpriced medical supplies is starting to knock on the doors of Malacañang?

Sen. Panfilo Lacson raised the possibility Tuesday, in response to the insults Duterte hurled at him and other senators looking into the anomalies.

“It is not difficult to think that he is in panic mode and is attempting as he has already done earlier to discourage the Senate from pursuing our investigation in the highly anomalous procurement of overpriced medical supplies that is starting to knock on the doors of Malacañang,” Lacson said in a statement.

He added the video showing Michael Yang, a Chinese national who had a signed contract as a presidential consultant, receiving a one-peso-a-year remuneration from the government and very casually introducing high officials of the controversial Pharmally Corp. “is telling to say the least.”

Duterte, in his taped address televised Tuesday, had thrown insults at senators involved in the investigation, including Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Richard Gordon.

He also made comments about Lacson’s hairdo.

“I don’t know what President Duterte is talking about when he commented on my hairstyle. I haven’t changed the way I comb my hair, since long before he had lost his mind. But his insulting rebuke only shows that he and Sen. Bong Go are one and the same, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. They even probably have a joint bank account,” Lacson fired back.

“Many people I talked to have noticed his incoherence and senseless ad libs even in his formal addresses to the nation including the State of the Nation Address (SONA),” he added.

But Lacson maintained the Senate will not be cowed by Duterte’s tirade.

“The Senate will not flinch on this one. There is a lot more to discover and pursue so that all those responsible for this abominable crime against the Filipino people who continue to suffer amid the pandemic will be exposed and charged in court at the proper time,” he said.