After house arrest due to COVID, Pharmally exec to be detained in Senate
PHARMALLY EXECUTIVE ARRIVES AT THE SENATE: Members of the Office of the Sergeant-At-Arms escort Pharmally Pharmaceuticals Corporation Executive Linconn Ong inside the Senate building Tuesday, September 21, 2021. Ong was cited in contempt and ordered to be arrested by the Blue Ribbon Committee for evading questions during the September 10, 2021 hybrid inquiry on the 2020 Commission on Audit report and other issues related to budget utilization of the Department of Health (DOH), especially its expenditures related to the fight against COVID-19. (Senate PRIB Photos)
MANILA, Philippines — Pharmally Pharmaceuticals Corp. director Linconn Ong will now be detained in the Senate after being under house arrest for nearly two weeks.
“Mr. Chairman, Mr. Linconn Ong is with the OSAA (Office of the Sergeant-At-Arms) already…He is already on the way here to the Senate,” Senate President Vicente Sotto III told Senate blue ribbon committee chairman Senator Richard Gordon during Tuesday’s hearing.
The Senate earlier ordered Ong arrested last Sept. 10 after senators found his answers evasive.
But since Ong tested positive for COVID-19, Gordon allowed that he be under house arrest for the meantime.
Senators are investigating the government’s transactions with Pharmally, which was awarded over P8.6 billion worth of supply contracts for medical supplies in 2020 despite being only several months old and having just P625,000 in paid-up capital.
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