President Rodrigo R. Duterte said he is ready to defend before the Supreme Court (SC) his order banning Cabinet officials from attending the Senate’s investigation on the government’s procurement of medical supplies from Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation.
Duterte issued the statement during his public address last Monday after lauding the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee move to question the legality of his order before the High Court.
“We welcome this move of bringing the legality of the memorandum to the Supreme Court and we would like to congratulate the members for realizing, albeit late…that it is the court which should eventually decide on the constitutionality of the order and we will defend it,” Duterte said.
“This is by far the most decent thing for the committee,” he added.
To note, Duterte issued a memorandum earlier this month supposedly to prevent the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee from wasting the time of Cabinet officials in its Pharmally probe.
Senators and other groups have demanded for Duterte to scrap the order, which they claimed prevents the investigation on the alleged anomalies in Pharmally’s transaction with the government.
In response, Duterte challenged the Senate to bring the issue to the Supreme Court instead so it could be put on record, Gordon supposedly mistreated Cabinet members with his “discourteous” questioning.
“It’s a question of law, an issue of law and you know it could either go either way. You win, you lose,” Duterte said.
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