MANILA, Philippines — After “disappearing” following her damning revelations, Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. executive Krizle Grace Mago attended Monday’s hearing at the House of Representatives where she is currently under protective custody.
This is the first time that Mago, who admitted during a Senate hearing that her company had swindled the government by selling medical-grade face shields with bogus production dates, will attend an investigation on the alleged questionable procurements made by the government amid the pandemic since being out of contact.
She did not appear at the resumption of the Senate’s own hearing on Thursday, September 30 and instead wrote to Speaker Lord Allan Velasco on that day to request for protective custody.
According to House committee on good government and public accountability chairperson Michael Aglipay, Mago is in a secure location within the Batasan Pambansa.
Mago said she sought for protective custody from the House because she believes she cannot speak freely on the issue without “feeling threatened” by various individuals.
She said that the protective custody by the House would help her speak freely.
During the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing last week, a person who claimed to work with Pharmally was presented by Senator Risa Hontiveros. The witness claimed that Mago ordered them to change the expiry dates on the face shields supplied to the government.
Mago conceded it was true.
Senate leaders offered some protection to her, but they could not contact her in the days that followed. The Senate then requested assistance from the National Bureau of Investigation in finding Mago.
“Also now, I came across the information from the news that the police and NBI are tracking me down including my grandparents’ home in the province and took photos and videos without their consent. I truly regret that I am being treated like a fugitive from justice,” Mago said in her letter requesting for protective custody from the House.