Pharmally execs Mohit Dargani and Linconn Ong (FILE PHOTOS)
(Photos from Senate Sgt-at-Arms Maj. Gen. Rene Samonte)
MANILA, Philippines — Pharmally officials Mohit Dargani and Linconn Ong were released from the Pasay City Jail, following almost seven months of detention.
The two officials were ordered released on Thursday, a day before the 18th Congress goes on sine die adjournment on June 3.
“They were released just three minutes ago,” lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, the legal counsel of the two Pharmally executives, told INQUIRER.net.
Their release orders, signed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, were handed over to Pasay City Jail warden Supt. Ramil Vestra for “immediate implementation.”
Dargani and Ong have been detained since November 2021 after they failed to produce the firm’s financial documents earlier subpoenaed during a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing.
(Photo from Senate Sgt-at-Arms Maj. Gen. Rene Samonte)
The Senate blue ribbon panel headed by Senator Richard Gordon investigated Pharmally over alleged irregularities in government deals worth billions of pesos for COVID-19 response supplies.
Topacio said the two Pharmally executives thank all those who have made the release possible.
“They wish to thank all those who have kept the faith and for helping them weather the storm and the deluge of negativity stemming from their unjust incarceration,” he said, on behalf of his clients.
Topacio reiterated that the two officials “only tried to do their civic duty” by appearing before the Senate hearing but “they were the ones silenced, punished, and used for a different agenda.”
“As they both try to reclaim their lives and make up for time lost, they wish to say that their ordeal did not in any way diminish their resolve to continue doing business and to be of help to the Filipino people, so as to send the clear message to the business community that whatever happens, as businessmen, they all have a role to play, no matter the cost to themselves, to be partners in economic recovery,” he added.