Pharmally staff draws flak after retracting Senate testimony

SENATORS lambasted Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation administrative assistant Krizle Grace Mago over her claim that she was pressured during the Senate hearing into claiming that they tampered with the face shields delivered to the Department of Health in 2020.

Senator Richard Gordon, Senate blue ribbon committee chairman, said the questions posed to Mago were delivered in a “calm and very measured manner.”

“What do you expect, she has been taken into the bosom of Pharmally and interests protective of the administration’s interest, no matter how vile. Nakipagyakapan na siya sa demonyo, makakawala pa ba iyan?,” he said in a message to reporters.

Senator Franklin Drilon described Mago’s response during the hearing as “spontaneous” and said there was no trace that she was then under pressure.

He said Mago’s claim that she was not in the best frame of mind to think clearly during the hearing was “totally self-serving, does not have any value, and cannot be corroborated.”

Senator Francis Pangilinan said Mago’s statement during the House committee probe was “rehearsed.”

“Iisa ang layunin niya at ang mga opisyal ng Pharmally at pati si Michael Yang, ang magsinungaling at magkabalu-baluktot ang testimonya kahit huling huli na,” he said.

Senator Risa Hontiveros said Mago may be under the pressure from those “powerful forces” urging her to retract her earlier statements, but not from the Senate.

“Pressured response? It is sad that Ms. Mago feels this way. Telling the truth is a relief. The greatest pressure is to lie,” she said.

“Ngunit naniniwala akong lalabas at lalabas ang katotohanan. Sana lang, sa huli, manaig ang kanyang konsensya,” she added.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III said Mago’s retraction of her statement only affected her credibility, but not that of the Senate investigation.

Mago told the Senate blue ribbon committee on September 24 that she relayed instructions to tamper with the product certificates of the face shields and make it appear like they were manufactured in 2021, instead of 2020.

The Senate panel could not reach her after her testimony. She surfaced on October 4 and told the House committee on good governance and public accountability that the claim she made before the Senate was “pressured response.” (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo / SunStar Philippines)

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