Senator Panfilo Lacson on Saturday questioned the claim of former Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation official Krizle Mago that she was “pressured” when she told a Senate probe that the company “swindled” the government.
Lacson issued the statement after Mago said during Friday’s hearing that she felt the pressure to respond before the Senate investigation to avoid being cited in contempt for evasive answers.
She also admitted that her answers were “inaccurate” due to pressure by lawmakers.
“Kay Ms. Mago kahapon kitang kitang nagdadahilan. Kitang kita naman eh yung pagtanggi niya kahapon eh, advice ng lawyer eh siya mismo halos hindi na makasagot,” Lacson said in a radio interview.
(It was shown yesterday that Ms. Mago was making excuses. It’s obvious that her refusal to answer the questions yesterday was on her lawyer’s advice. She could almost not answer the questions.)
Mago admitted before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee last September that she changed the expiration dates of government-purchased face shields.
However, she later retracted her testimony and sought protective custody from the House of Representatives.
She said her admission that Pharmally “swindled” the government when it tampered with the expiration dates was a “pressured response.”
However, Lacson said that the video clip showed that Mago was not pressured during her admission.
“Nakikita naman ng mga tao eh na sinasabi na under pressure maliwanag naman sa mga sagot niya sa video niya walang magsasabi na napressure siya kasi napakafreewheel ng discussion,” he added.
(People can see whether she was under pressure as her answer was clear based on the video. No one can say that she was under pressure because it was a freewheeling discussion.)
Lacson also said that they needed the boxes containing the documents related to Pharmally’s financial statements.
The committee on Friday ordered the transfer of Pharmally director Linconn Ong and corporate secretary and treasurer Mohit Dargani from the Senate premises to Pasay City Jail.
The officials failed to provide the committee the location of the boxes containing the documents related to the firm’s financial statements.
After the motion was approved, Dargani tried to appeal to the Senate blue ribbon chairman Richard Gordon if he could physically look for the boxes of documents and if he could convene with Ong in a private setting.
Gordon granted his request to talk with Ong, but warned Dargani that if the boxes were not brought to the Senate, there is a standing order for them to be transferred to a regular jail facility.
“Nakita namin yung footage naman ng pag-uusap ni Lincoln at Dargani mukhang balisa kasi magalaw yung paa,” Lacson said.
(We saw the footage of the conversation between Lincoln and Dargani. They looked anxious because their feet were moving.)
Lacson encouraged the Pharmally officials to cooperate with the Senate probe.
“I just hope na magsabi na lang sila ng totoo para andyan na rin naman eh kitang kita naman eh,” he added.
(I just hope that they tell the truth because it’s quite clear already.)
Senator Leila De Lima, meanwhile, backed the committee’s decision.
“I fully support the decision of the committee chairman, Senator Dick Gordon, and the committee as a whole, to use the full powers of the committee and the Senate in going to the very bottom of the 8-billion peso heist, including the power to send the Pharmally officials to Pasay City Jail,” she said in a statement.
“In truth, anyone who cares about accountability in the handling of taxpayer funds, especially during the height of the pandemic, ought to support this search for truth.”
The Senate panel is looking into the allegations of overpricing in the government’s purchases sourced from the P42-billion COVID-19 funds that were transferred by the Department of Health (DOH) to the Department of Budget’s Procurement Service (DBM-PS) last year.
The PS-DBM purchased P8.6 billion worth of face masks, face shields, and protective personnel equipment from Pharmally, a firm being linked to Chinese businessman and former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang.
The committee will resume its hearing on December 3. — VBL, GMA News
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