Gordon: Pharmally execs may be detained at Pasay City jail until June 30, 2022

Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation officials Mohit Dargani and Linconn Ong might be detained at the Pasay City jail until the end of the 18th Congress or June 30, 2022, Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Richard Gordon said Friday.

He made the remark during the continuation of the Senate investigation into the government’s alleged anomalous purchases of COVID-19 supplies as he noted the evasiveness of the Pharmally officials.

“Kung akala nila Dargani sufficient na sila magtago at pinagmamalaki pa nila na hindi na sila sisipot, 'yung kanilang mga abugado panay ang press release nila, ay talagang aabutin kayo hanggang matapos ang buhay nitong Congress na ito hanggang June 29 or 30 next year and you will not get any more free passes from us at the rate you are going,” Gordon said in his opening statement.

(If Dargani and his colleague think that it is sufficient to hide and even their lawyer says they won't attend the Senate hearings, their lawyers are still issuing press releases, we could lock them up until the end of this Congress or until June 29 or 30 next year and you will not get any more free passes from us at the rate you are going.)

Gordon highlighted anew the importance of the Senate’s “inherent power of contempt” to legislate “wisely or effectively in the absence of information.”

“Dahil sa panghaharang ng mga ito, talagang mahihirapan ang Senado pero nand’yan pa naman ang [Bureau of Internal Revenue] at mapapatunayan pa rin natin sapagkat meron tayong mga paraang ginagawa ngayon para lumabas lahat ‘yan,” Gordon said.

(Because of their stonewalling, the Senate would find it hard to do its job. bBt the BIR is still there and we could still prove our position. We still have ways to expose everything.)

Ong and Dargani are detained at the Pasay City jail after they failed to provide the committee the whereabouts of the boxes containing the documents related to the firm’s financial statements.

The Senate panel conducted its 16th day of investigation into the transfer of P42 billion COVID-19 funds from the Department of Health to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).

This includes PS-DBM’s purchase of P8.6 billion worth of face masks, face shields, and PPEs from Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation, a firm that only had P625,000 in paid-up capital when it entered transactions with the government. — DVM, GMA News