Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla stood by his decision to withdraw and review the Pharmally cases filed at the Sandiganbayan, suggesting they appeared designed to fail. Speaking at the Stratbase Institute’s Pilipinas Conference, he expressed suspicions about the rushed filing of the cases before his appointment. He stated that he could detect something suspicious from afar.
At the conference, Remulla explained his doubts about the hasty filing of the Pharmally cases prior to his appointment as Ombudsman. “We withdrew the cases. We're reconfiguring everything now. There was even a case in the Pharmally cases where no damage to government was alleged,” he said. According to him, this omission creates confusion over the Sandiganbayan's jurisdiction, the nation's anti-graft court.
The Pharmally charges total around P4 billion. Recently, the Sandiganbayan approved the Ombudsman's request to withdraw six graft cases. These cases arose from the irregular purchase of medical equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite Pharmally's modest start-up capital of P626,000, the government granted it contracts worth P8.68 billion. A Senate investigation later revealed evidence that the medical equipment bought from Pharmally was substandard. As a result, the reconfiguration of the cases continues to ensure proper filing.