MANILA, Philippines 鈥� President Rodrigo Duterte has issued a memo formally prohibiting his Cabinet officials from attending the Senate probe on the government鈥檚 procurement of allegedly overpriced pandemic supplies last year from Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.听
Duterte announced this in his taped weekly briefing that aired late Monday night, during which he took another swipe at听 Sen. Richard Gordon, chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, which has been conducting the Pharmally probe.
鈥淲e cannot allow blatant disrespect of resource persons at the ongoing hearing of the Senate blue ribbon committee. Gordon, you are not God and you cannot play God,鈥� Duterte said.
He said he was not against the investigation, but his officials should no longer be involved, especially those involved in the government鈥檚 pandemic response.
鈥溾�楾hat Pharmally, as I said, you can crumple it as much as you want,鈥� he said, speaking partly in Filipino. 鈥淏ut don鈥榯 just get my people involved. I am not objecting to your kingdom come, but [don鈥檛 involve] the people whom I am relying on to fight COVID-19.鈥�
Duterte also criticized senators for lacking respect for the administration by repeatedly letting officials sit waiting for hours during hearings, which he said was unnecessary.
He reiterated that senators, or even other individuals outside the Senate, should instead file a case in court if they could find any possible crime committed by Pharmally.
鈥淪enate is not a criminal court. Stop using it for your witch hunt,鈥� Duterte said.