Vice President Leni Robredo asserted that the amount of the contracts bagged by controversial company Pharmally Pharmaceutical was 9 times higher than the Office of the Vice President budget.
“Yung pag-award ng kontrata ang nakagugulat. Ang pinakamalaki … halos nine times ng budget ng buong Office of the Vice President,” Robredo said.
“Tapos lumabas na initial lang pala ‘yun. Mayroong dumadagdag na lampas P2 billion ngayong taon,” she added.
Robredo made the statement when pressed to comment on the alleged overpricing in the government procurement of COVID-19 supplies.
The OVP budget in 2021 was at PHP908.79 million which was used in helping the government’s COVID-19 response.
Robredo said that any allegations of corruption in the middle of a raging pandemic were unacceptable.
“Ano pa ba ang mas malala na lumalabas na grabe ‘yung corruption na nagkakamatayan yung mga tao. Bakit ganito? Ang daming nagugutom, ang daming nawawalan ng trabaho, tapos pagkakakitaan ninyo,” she said.
Some lawmakers wanted to increase the proposed budget of the OVP to PHP2 billion from its original proposal.
“Mabuti na lang noong 2016, nasanay kami dito na kung ano ibigay, pagkakasyahin namin. Pero yung kaliitan ng budget, ‘di na siya dahilan para hindi tumulong,” she said.
