Composite graphic of Lady Justice statue, Philippine flag, President Duterte (right), and Sen. Gordon (left). Graphic: PNL he Philippine Senate appears to be one of the few remaining institutions able to go head-to-head with President Rodrigo Duterte. The recent hearings of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chaired by Sen. Dick Gordon show that amongst government officials, only the Senate seems able to call the president and his allies to task. At issue are alleged overpriced medical supplies procured by the Department of Health (DOH) as part of its early COVID-19 pandemic response. The committee is focusing on what could be anomalous purchase transactions in the tens of billions of pesos. It is also looking at the connections or ties the individuals involved in those transactions might have with the Duterte administration. The fracas appears to have started after the Commission on Audit (COA) released its Consolidated Annual Audit Report for FY 2020 of the Department of Health. In its report, the COA questioned deficiencies involving COVID-19 funds in the amount of Php67.3 Billion. For its part, the COA reiterates that the audit process has yet to be completed, and therefore the DOH still has the opportunity to correct or challenge the commission's report. However, Duterte's detractors in the Senate—and some in the House—have shifted their focus to what they see as disturbing ties between the Duterte administration, and individuals involved in the DOH purchases. The Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Rep. Jose Singson managed to link Lloyd Christopher Lao, the undersecretary who oversaw the purchases for the DOH, as having worked for Sen. Bong Go, the ultimate Duterte stalwart, when the senator managed the office of Special Assistant to the President (SAP). A second individual of interest to senators is Michael Yang, a Davao-based Chinese businessman and former adviser to the president. Yang's close ties to Duterte go as far back as 2017. He also appears to have been instrumental in bringing together the top executives of Pharmally International Holding Company, a Taiwanese-based corporation, and Duterte. According to Sen. Risa Hontiveros, some top executives of Pharmally are wanted fugitives in Taiwan, accused of securities fraud, embezzlement, and stock manipulation. Pharmally's Philippine subsidiary, it appears received the bulk of the government's COVID-19 purchases despite it being "a new firm with a small capital and whose incorporators supposedly gave non-existent addresses" according to Mara Cepeda of Rappler. For Gordon and his colleagues, the administration appears to be in a "panic" and is doing all it can to distract the public and undermine the Senate investigations. Lately, Duterte has started poking fun at the senator over his looks—a sure sign that the Blue Ribbon Committee's hearings are rattling the president, according to Gordon. In a properly functioning democracy, no branch of government should have absolute authority. The power of the president must be constantly "checked and balanced" by other co-equal branches of government to ensure that the country's leader always operates within the law. When that ability is lost, or even just diminished, the guardrails that underpin democracy begin to disappear. And if left unchecked, democracy can turn into autocracy. So our hats off to the brave members of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, the House Committee on Public Accounts, the Commission on Audit, and all other governmental and non-governmental institutions that dare to hold our leaders to account—through your actions, you rein in even the most powerful. And in the process, you keep Philippine democracy alive." Published 9/9/2021