Dispatch from Crame No. 1138:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on Duterte's admission of his links to Christopher Lao and Michael Yang

I do not know what else the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee can dig up on the identity of the mastermind behind the 42 billion DOH-to-DBM transfer and almost 9 billion in contracts awarded to Pharmally Corporation, after Duterte already admitted all links to all persons involved in the anomalous transactions.

Apparently, the mastermind behind the 8.6 billion Pharmally heist is none other than Duterte himself.

First, astoundingly, Duterte admitted that Lloyd Christopher Lao is his fraternity brother, campaign team leader, and trusted Davao lawyer. That is why Lao had no problem making the rounds in high government offices (PMS Undersecretary, HLURB CEO) before settling as DBM Undersecretary. This also explains his smugness and overbearing confidence in the Blue Ribbon hearings. Nakasandal pala siya sa pader. No wonder he was allegedly rewarded with a Maserati.

The only question now is, why has Lao suddenly dropped from the government scene, after being trusted and rewarded with such government positions, especially upon the release of the 2020 COA report?

Bakit tinatago si Lao sa Davao, pagkatapos niyang mamayagpag sa Maynila? Para ba mas madali siyang iligpit kapag kailangan na?

Second, also astoundingly, Duterte admitted his close ties to Michael Yang, the main character linked to Pharmally Corporation and who has probably received a hefty commission in the 8.6 billion DBM-PS payoff, after probably handing over the bulk of the profits to Duterte.

Duterte says Yang is a businessman, and it is only normal for him to acquire contracts from the government. In fact, he adds, Yang is an investor. Apparently, Duterte also admits that in fact it was his close friend Yang and his associates who have indeed bagged the 8.6 billion worth of government contracts courtesy of Duterte's brod, DBM Usec Christopher Lao.

With this whole picture gratuitously drawn for us by Duterte, the Blue Ribbon Committee now does not even need to connect Sen. Bong Go to this whole corruption network involving Duque, Christopher Lao, Michael Yang, Pharmally, and Duterte. Apparently, both Lao and Yang connect directly to Duterte even without the need of Bong Go.

Now we know why Duterte will do everything in his power to hide his SALN. Maybe the AMLC can enlighten us on the covered and suspicious transactions that are most likely identified in Duterte's bank accounts since the start of the pandemic and shed light on the utterly corrupted nature of the being who is Rodrigo Duterte.

Access the handwritten version of Dispatch from Crame No. 1138, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_from_crame_no._1138