Grace Poe's transcript Senate Blue Ribbon hearing

Sen. Grace Poe: I would like to stress the following, that we are only dealing with the tip of the iceberg. This is the P67 billion in deficiencies that COA flagged DOH on—P42 billion of which was transferred to the Procurement Service and P8.7 billion was given to Pharmally... Nais kong balikan, Mr. Chairman, sino ba sa PS-DBM ang nagdesisyon sa pagbibigay ng kontrata sa Pharmally? Gusto ko lang liwanagin dahil may mga sinasabi dati si Atty. Lao na hindi naman talaga siya. Sino ba ang bumubuo nitong komite na ito na nag-apruba no'n?
...

Poe: Who would it be, Mr. Chairman? Mr. Lao was it you who made the decision, sir?

Atty. Lloyd Christopher Lao: I signed the notice of award, Mr. Chairman.

Poe: So if you signed it, who are the members of the screening committee or is it just you?

Lao: No, there's a BAC. They do the market scanning, they do the negotiation, mga ganu'n po.

Poe: So who are those again?

Lao: It's an awards committee. I think the PS-DBM can answer that, their records.

Poe: Yes, there should be individuals behind it, right? And they're the ones who recommended to you. So who are those individuals?

Lao: I think the records are with PS-DBM. I don't have the records. I don't want to give names that I am not sure if it's accurate, Madam Chair.
...

Poe: So for an amount this big, Atty. Lao, when it was presented to you, it was just for your release, just for your signature, am I correct?

Lao: Yes, Mr. Chairman. But it is on a series of transactions, not on one account, Mr. Chair.
...

Poe: My question is this. Obviously, you are ultimately responsible for it. Bumabalik na naman tayo. Halimbawa, meron na lang mga pricelist ng mga acceptable amount, kayo ay tumalima doon...But the fact remains, may ibang mga nag-bid ba o ito lang? Kasi 'yung sinasabi nating P625,000 lang ang kanilang capitalization pero nanalo pa rin sila, 'di ba. Samantalang, 'yung EMS Components Assembly, lokal na kumpanya, hindi naman natin binigyan ng pagkakataon na matugunan 'yung pangangailangan natin sa facemask. So siguro babalikan kita, Mr. Lao, bakit wala na bang ibang nakisali para makuha ang bid na ito for that amount na P8.7 billion? Bakit pinili ninyo 'yung Pharmally na napakaliit ng kapitalisasyon?
...

Poe: Mr. Chairman, I know that we're going to start the session in a few minutes. Perhaps I will just delay my questions for later when Mr. Yang finally attends our hearing because some of my questions are actually for him. I'd like to know, since he's supposed to be a special business consultant for this administration, what other projects did he broker? Meron pa bang mga ibang 'Pharmally' na maaaring napasukan? So, I will just end my questioning for now, and I hope that I can continue when Mr. Yang finally appears before the committee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.