Drilon wants hold departure order vs. Pharmally officials

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Thursday said there might be a need to request for hold departure orders (HDO) against officials of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation.

Drilon made the statement in a virtual interview after Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Richard Gordon disclosed that the panel is eyeing requesting an HDO against resigned Budget undersecretary Christopher Lloyd Lao.

“Sa akin, baka kailangan din nating humingi ng HDO kung nandito pa sila Twinkle Dargani… Mohit Dargani… at 'yung Huang Tzu Yen na siyang chief executive officer ng Pharmally. Baka hingan din natin ng hold departure order para po makaharap sa Senado,” Drilon told reporters.

(For me, we might need to request for an HDO against Twinkle Dargani, Mohit Dargani, and Huang Tzu Yen who is the chief executive officer of Pharmally. We might request for the HDO so that we can have a chance to present them before the Senate.)

Mohit Dargani was said to be the corporate secretary and treasurer of Pharmally while Twinkle Dargani was said to be one of the officials of the firm.

Citing an information, Drilon said Mohit Dargani was already in the Middle East.

Drilon said he will study if the Senate can file a petition before the courts to request for an HDO against the personalities linked to the issue of overpriced personal protective equipment (PPEs) which were bought at the onset of the pandemic in 2020.

“I have to review whether the Senate of the Philippines can file a petition for the issuance of the HDO, I will suggest to the Senate President (Vicente Sotto III) and chairman Dick Gordon that we file a petition before the courts,” he said.

“Hindi ba pwede humingi ang Senado na mag-issue ng HDO on a matter pending before them? We can request that and HDO be issued,” Drilon added.

(Is the Senate not allowed to request for the issuance of an HDO on a matter pending before them? We can request that and HDO be issued.)

On its website, the Bureau of Immigration said ”to file for the said order, a criminal case should be pending before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) and order should be given by the RTC directing the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to hold the departure of the person/s named. If in case the case does not fall on a HDO, you may refer to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for an application for an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order.”

Drilon said there are rumors that Lao was supposed to leave the country. This prompted him to suggest to the Senate blue ribbon committee to request an HDO against Lao.

“Caution lamang. Kailangan siyang managot dito sa mga alegasyon at sa mga pruweba na aming nakikita. Dapat nandito s’ya e caution lamang dapat may HDO para po hindi siya makalabas,” he said.

(We are just being cautious. He should answer these allegations and the pieces of evidence that we have gathered. He should be here in the country and this HDO is a precautionary measure so that he won’t be able to leave the country.)

Lao was the head of the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service (DBM-PS) when the government bought the overpriced face masks and face shields.

On the other hand, Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation is a small firm which only had a paid-up capital worth around P625,000 but secured over P8 billion worth of government contracts from the DBM-PS for the procurement of the said overpriced PPEs.

The Senate blue ribbon committee is currently probing the transactions entered into by the DBM-PS with Pharmally.

The lawmakers are also seeking information on the possible links of Chinese businessman Michael Yang, President Duterte’s former economic adviser, to the officials of Pharmally.—AOL, GMA News