PHARMALLY Pharmaceuticals Corporation director Linconn Ong and treasurer Mohit Dargani were transferred on Monday, November 29, 2021, to the Pasay City Jail, Senator Richard Gordon said.
Ong and Dargani underwent medical check-up and coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) testing before they were transferred to the said facility from the Senate office where they were initially detained for evading questions amid the investigation on alleged irregularities in the use of Covid-19 pandemic funds of the Department of Health (DOH) as flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA).
Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) spokesperson Chief Inspector Xavier Solda said the two officials will undergo mandatory quarantine before they will be assigned to a cell in the general population.
“ Pasay City Jail is a 1,000 percent congested facility with 1,104 persons deprived of liberty (PDL). It does not have a separate facility except the isolation area intended for newly committed PDL, which is part of the health and security procedures being observed in jails,” Solda said in a statement.
“W alang special treatment. Walang preferential attention para sa kanila. Ang policy ng BJMP, pantay-pantay na pagtrato sa lahat ng aming mga PDL, patas na pagmamalasakit sa lahat,” he added.
The Senate blue ribbon committee, which leads investigation on the said irregularities, ordered Ong and Dargani’s transfer to the Pasay City Jail after they failed to locate the “boxes of documents” subpoenaed by the panel, which aims to shed light on the alleged overpriced medical supplies that the firm delivered to the government.
The panel was looking particularly for the company’s financial statement for 2020 after a tax expert flagged the P3.4-billion unsupported purchases of the firm which it declared to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Pharmally bagged over P8.6 billion contract from the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget Management for the delivery of medical supplies to the DOH during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. (SunStar Philippines)