Dispatch from Crame No. 1167:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the COMELEC signing of contract with F2 Logistics

11/3/21

Handing over the contract on the delivery of 2022 election paraphernalia, including counting machines, to Duterte crony Dennis Uy is basically asking the wolf to guard the sheep. No "ifs" or "buts" about it.

Dennis Uy is not any ordinary campaign donor. He is, like Michael Yang, Duterte's most favored crony. Proof of this status is the grant of major government contracts to Dennis Uy's companies, including the Malampaya oil and gas field contract. Before Duterte became president, Dennis Uy was a minor player in big business, if not a total non-entity in major government projects. After Duterte became president, Dennis Uy has dominated not only in government contracts, but in Philippine big business in general.

There is therefore reason to believe that Dennis Uy's interests are also Duterte's. The two are most likely business partners, or worse, Dennis Uy is Duterte's dummy in the plunder of public funds through the irregular acquisition of government contracts. This is crony capitalism at its worst.

Comelec's assurances are disappointing to say the least. In light of existing public records showing Dennis Uy's status as most favored Duterte crony, they should not have treated Dennis Uy as just an ordinary campaign donor. He is more than that. For all intents and purposes, he represents Duterte's interests, and that makes the Comelec award to his company a clear disregard of a conflict of interest case.

Comelec should have done more, and not merely relied on the absence of a law prohibiting campaign donors from bidding in election contracts. This goes to the most fundamental, most elementary and even the most commonly understood meaning of the word "fair" in the phrase "fair elections." The Comelec crying about an "absence of law" is a Comelec that has either forgotten or forsaken its mandate under the Constitution.###

Access the handwritten version of Dispatch from Crame No. 1167, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatchno1167