Hontiveros hopes Mago won’t be ‘too comfortable’ in House custody

Pharmally official Krizle Grace Mago. (Photo from the House of Representatives)

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Risa Hontiveros said she hopes Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. official Krizle Mago, who broke contact with the Senate blue ribbon committee last week, would not be “too comfortable” in the protective custody of the House of Representatives.

“I trust it will be a comfortable stay for her — but hopefully not too comfortable. Interparliamentary courtesy requires that I say nothing more,” Hontiveros said in a statement Thursday.

Hontiveros was among the senators who had offered to put Mago under the Senate’s protective custody in a hearing last week after the latter’s damning admission against Pharmally.

When sought for comment, Senator Francis Pangilinan sees no problem with Mago being under the custody of the lower chamber.

“I understand the HoR will make arrangements to make her available should the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee requests for her presence. If so, then I do not see this as a problem,” Pangilinan said.

A week after her last appearance before the Senate blue ribbon committee, Mago sought protective custody from the House, saying this would help her to “speak freely without unnecessary compulsion from anyone.”

Rep. Michael Edgar Aglipay, chair of the committee on good government and public accountability, said Mago is now in a secure location within the House complex.

READ: Pharmally’s Krizle Mago now under House protective custody – Aglipay

Mago, last week, admitted in a Senate blue ribbon panel hearing that Pharmally might have “swindled” the government by changing the expiration dates on the face shields it delivered.

Since then, the committee was not able to contact her. Mago also failed to return during Thursday’s Senate hearing.

READ: Mago absent as senators pound on PS-DBM ‘favoritism’