Gordon quizzes Pharmally exec over GF’s firm that won P37.9-M face shield deal

Mohit Dargani, Pharmally corporate secretary and treasurer

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Richard Gordon on Tuesday grilled an executive of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. about his girlfriend’s one-person corporation, which won a P37.9-million contract to supply face shields to the Department of Health (DOH) in June.

During Gordon’s questioning at the resumption of the Senate blue ribbon inquiry, Pharmally corporate secretary and treasurer Mohit Dargani said the DOH contract for two million face shields has been “put on hold.”

Still, Gordon posed questions on how and why the one-person corporation, Business Beyond Limits (BBL) OPC, was formed.

According to Dargani, the firm was opened by a woman named Sophia Custodio, with whom he has a relationship.

In a previous hearing, Dargani said his girlfriend was a flight attendant, but she lost her job due to the effects of the pandemic.

Gordon first asked Dargani whether he funded BBL’s P10-million capital.

Dargani said: “I did not give her any money.”

“Because of your love for this young woman—and I hope your love is pure—you set her up very, very nicely, in a nice office building and set her up in business, which is good, because at least, she won’t be working for anybody anymore,” Gordon remarked.

Dargani explained that his girlfriend’s firm was in a joint venture with Pharmally when it bagged the DOH contract.

“Why did you have to have a joint venture? Pharmally was doing well enough by itself?” Gordon asked.

In response, Dargani said: “We wanted to give credentials to BBL.”

“It’s more of a cooperation between the two companies,” he added.

To which Gordon said: “No, you did it because you were in love with this girl, and you wanted to give her a chance in life. Come on, be honest at least.”

“Yeah, I’m in love with her,” Dargani, at this point, said.

Custodio was compelled to attend Tuesday’s hearing but the subpoena was not served to the firm’s office address since no one was there due to work-from-home arrangements amid the pandemic.

“So let her be forewarned she will be in contempt if she doesn’t show up,” Gordon said. The next hearing is set next Tuesday, Oct. 12.

Senators have been looking into the government’s transactions with Pharmally, which was awarded over P8.6 billion worth of supply contracts for medical supplies in 2020 despite being only several months old and having just P625,000 in paid-up capital.

READ: Pharmally exec: All our business dealings are aboveboard

Pharmally chairman and president Huang Tzu Yen has previously denied that they were favored in any way in the government’s procurement of medical supplies in 2020, saying the firm has been “unfairly prejudged.”

READ: Pharmally exec: All our business dealings are aboveboard