Senator Gordon Slams President Duterte For Defending Yang and Lao

Senator Gordon slammed President Duterte for defending Michael Yang and Christopher Lao.

On Friday, Senator Richard Gordon slammed President Rodrigo Duterte for defending his former economic adviser Michael Yang, former DBM-PS head Christopher Lao, and other personalities being tagged in the national government’s controversial deals with a foreign-led company.

Senator Gordon and President Duterte
Photo source: CNN Philippines

As his panel resumed its investigation, Senator Gordon, the chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee, said the reason Yang and Lao can’t answer was that “Atty. Duterte” was already answering for them.

Kaya hindi sila makasagot, ang tiga-sagot nila ngayon ay si Atty. Duterte…’Di na siya Pangulo ng Pilipinas. Ang pangulo po, sumusumpa sa buong Pilipinas para sabihin niya ‘poproteksyonan ko at ipagtatanggol ko ang mga kababayan ko,’” Senator Gordon said.

According to the senator, the President has done nothing but used the time to report the government’s pandemic response to the people to defend the people they’re questioning for the last several days.

READ ALSO: Senator Gordon Says President Duterte Should Have Resigned Ahead Of “PPE exposé”

Senator Gordon’s panel was looking into the national government’s pandemic purchases last year, particularly the more than PHP 8.6 billion worth of pandemic-related supply contracts awarded by the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM-PS) to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation last year. Yang and Lao were among the personalities grilled by the Senate blue ribbon committee.

Senator Gordon also questioned President Duterte’s repeated rants against the chamber’s investigation.

The senator further denied that his committee was “bullying” its resource persons, saying that they’re just asking questions because they wanted to know the whole truth.

Ayaw niyo pakinggan ng tao ang imbestigasyon ng COA (Commission on Audit), ng Senado, napapaso po ba kayo?” Senator Gordon asked. “Wala pa naman kaming hinuhusga. Tila baga tuwing lumalabas, natataranta ang Pangulo, bakit kayo ang kailangang kayo magtanggol, Mr. President?

For more news and updates, you may feel free to visit this site more often. You may also visit Newspapers.ph via our official Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Leave a Comment