Palace: We’ll run after Pharmally if…

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang said on Friday that it would run after executives of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., which bagged multibillion-peso contracts to supply the government with pandemic equipment, if they have not been paying proper taxes.

“The executive (branch of government) will lead the collection of taxes, if these need to be collected because we need funds during the pandemic. Do not worry, the [Bureau of Internal Revenue] is not sleeping on the job. If there are deficiencies in tax payments, we will run after it, and that is guaranteed,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing.

Senators have surmised that Pharmally and its executives might not have paid the proper amount of taxes after bagging P11.5 billion in government contracts in 2020 and 2021.

Roque also downplayed the claim of Sen. Risa Hontiveros that President Rodrigo Duterte had a special relationship with Wang Min, chair of Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group (XCMG), another company under Senate investigation.

Hontiveros presented a picture showing the President with Wang and described XCMG, which bagged P2.23 billion worth of contracts with the government, as a “tax evader” and was not even registered with the Bureau of Customs and Securities and Exchange Commission.