Senate transfers Pharmally’s Dargani, Ong to Pasay City Jail

Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation executives Linconn Ong and Mohit Dargani are detained in the Pasay City Jail following their transfer from the Senate’s custody Monday afternoon, November 29, 2021. (Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Two executives of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. were transferred to the Pasay City Jail on Monday for failing to produce the firm’s financial documents earlier subpoenaed during an ongoing Senate investigation.

Pharmally corporate secretary and treasurer Mohit Dargani and Linconn Ong were ordered transferred to the Pasay City Jail by the Senate blue ribbon committee last week.

Before they were transferred, they underwent a medical check-up, including an antigen test for COVID-19, which yielded a negative result.

SENATE SENDS PHARMALLY EXECS TO PASAY JAIL: Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation executives Linconn Ong and Mohit Dargani undergo medical check-up, including an antigen test for COVID-19, in the Senate before they are transferred to the Pasay City Jail Monday, November 29, 2021. (Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB)

Dargani and Ong will remain in jail “until such time that they will properly answer questions propounded to them, submit documents required by the committee or otherwise purge themselves of a contempt order imposed against them,” according to the commitment order signed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III and committee chairman Senator Richard Gordon over the weekend.

The Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) was earlier ordered to escort Dargani to whichever place he will say to obtain the subpoenaed boxes containing Pharmally’s financial document.

But the trip to the supposed location of the boxes was cancelled after Dargani “kept making excuses,” Gordon said in a statement issued shortly after the two’s transfer to Pasay City Jail.

“The following day, the OSAA made arrangements for the trip outside the Senate to retrieve those documents. But the trip could not materialize as Mr. Dargani kept making excuses pointing to three probable locations: office, residence, or warehouse,” the senator said.

“He was informed by OSAA that they could go to all three locations but Mr. Dargani hemmed and hawed, resulting in the cancellation of the trip,” Gordon added.

Pharmally is being investigated by the Senate blue ribbon committee over alleged irregularities in government deals worth billions of pesos for COVID-19 response supplies despite having a paid-up capital of only P625,000.

Gordon, meanwhile, defended the Senate’s move to transfer the two Pharmally officials to jail.

“In the exercise of its powers and prerogatives, the Committee, when faced with lying witnesses and disrespectful resource persons, is not bereft of compulsory processes to ensure that the institution of the Senate is respected, its honor preserved and its integrity maintained whole,” he said.

“In the investigation into the DOH (Department of Health) expenditures of funds for COVID-19 response, the Committee’s work has faced obstacles to deter, delay, or otherwise side-track its course,” he added.

Furthermore, the senator said Dargani and Ong’s continued presence in the Senate premises has also “put a strain to an overstretched OSAA, whose primary function is to protect the Senate building.”

The OSAA, Gordon added, also needs to “secure the people coming in and out, especially the employees, and because of the pandemic, making sure that those who enter the building are free from the virus that has caused many lives both in and out of Senate premises.”

Ong has been detained in the Senate since September after he was cited in contempt for being “evasive” during the investigation while Dargani was put into the chamber’s custody last Nov. 14.

Dargani and his sister, Twinkle, were arrested at the Davao City Airport as they were about to fly to Malaysia.

Twinkle, whose mental health was said to be “deteriorating,” will remain in the Senate and will be visited by her doctor.

The siblings were cited in contempt over their “refusal” to provide the financial documents senators have been repeatedly asking for.

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