Pwede ba ‘yun? Drilon doubts Avisado clueless on P8.7-B contracts awarded by Lao

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon believes resigned Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado knew about the nearly P8.7-billion worth of supply contracts awarded by the Department of Budget and Management’s Procurement Service (DBM-PS) to an obscure company starting last year.

In an interview over dzBB radio Sunday (August 29), Drilon said it’s “contrary to human experience” for Avisado to be clueless about the contracts awarded by the office previously headed by Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao.

Avisado reportedly said Lao reported to no one when he was at the DBM.

“Human nature, bilyung-blilyon ang hawak ng isang ahensya sa ilalim mo bilang secretary of budget, hindi mo ba tatanungin kung ano ang nangyayari diyan, tama ba ang ginagawa? Tama ba yun? Huwag mo naming sabihin Sec. Avisado na hindi mo alam ang ginagawa. That is contrary to human experience,” Drilon said.

The opposition lawmaker said there’s negligence on Avisado’s part if he claimed to unaware of Lao’s activities.

“Kahit attached agency lang iyan, subordinate mo iyan. In practical terms, sa araw-araw mong trabaho ay dapat tinatawagan mo yain. May pagkukulang,” Drilon said.

The Senate blue ribbon committee is currently investigating how little known Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation was able to bag multibillion-peso contracts from the DBM-PS to supply COVID-19 related items such as face masks, personal protective equipment and RT-PCR test kits.

The Department of Health transferred in 2020 some P42 billion to the DBM-PS, supposedly to fast-track the acquisition of supplies.

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