Senate panel asked to release Pharmally’s Linconn Ong from detention due to ailing son

The Senate blue ribbon committee has been urged to release Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation director Linconn Ong from detention due to his ailing son.

In a letter sent by Ong’s wife, Summer, to Senate blue ribbon chairman Richard Gordon last February 14, she appealed to the panel to free the Pharmally official as their son is “suffering from dengue.”

She mentioned that the Senate panel did not act on Ong’s request to meet his family when they went through two medical emergencies.

Mrs. Ong further noted that even Pharmally corporate secretary and treasurer Mohit Dargani was not able to see an ailing close relative, who eventually passed away, “because of this grave injustice.”

“Now, I fear, that our son, if anything happens to him will no longer see his father if something untoward happens,” Mrs. Ong wrote.

She argued that her husband should have been freed from detention upon the release of a full Senate report but Gordon “has deemed it necessary to keep him imprisoned even without a crime proven or a case filed by issuing a partial Senate report.”

“The Senate has constantly besmirched the name of my husband, his company, and his reputation, including placing the health and well-being of our family in jeopardy for some senators to have something to use in their reelection bids,” Mrs. Ong said.

“I seek for your and the Senate’s understanding and compassion to please consider setting my husband free. What Linc is experiencing now, the anguish of not being there for his family, the difficult situation in a City Jail, which incidentally has no jurisdiction over him, and the constant fear for the future, with no clear indication as to when this will all end, please pardon my words, is torture brought upon him and to his family by the Senate,” she added.

Mrs. Ong assured the senator that they will face the accusations when the proper charges are filed.

“In the meantime, let him be with his son,” she said.

In response, Senate blue ribbon director general Atty. Rodolfo Noel Quimbo acknowledged the receipt of Mrs. Ong’s letter.

According to Quimbo, Gordon “found it prudent to relay your request to all members of the Blue Ribbon committee for their comments before any decision on the matter may be made by the Committee.”

Quimbo also told Mrs. Ong that the Philippine Red Cross is ready to provide assistance to their family in case they need any blood transfusion.

In a press conference, Senator Panfilo Lacson said he is in favor of releasing Ong from detention for “purely humanitarian” reasons.

“Well I go for it kasi kung may sakit (if they are ill)…maski anak, maski asawa, basta (regardless if it's the son or the spouse as long as it is an) immediate member of the family… being the vice chairman ng Blue Ribbon, I recommend that he’d be released immediately,” he said.

However, Lacson said Ong should not be exonerated from any possible accountability or criminal liability.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III also said he personally favors the release of Ong from detention.

But since he is the Senate president, he will wait for the recommendation of the Senate blue ribbon committee.

In November, Ong and Dargani were turned over to Pasay City Jail after they refused to disclose the whereabouts  of the documents on the company's financial statements.

The Senate blue ribbon committee is currently investigating 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 a P625,000 paid-up capital when it entered transactions with the government.

The Senate panel recently recommended the filing of criminal charges against Ong, Dargani, and several government officials and individuals in connection with the alleged anomalous purchases of COVID-19 supplies.—AOL, GMA News