MANILA, Philippines — Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. executives Linconn Ong and Mohit Dargani were transferred to the Pasay City Jail on Monday, following the Senate’s order.
Reports said that Mohit Dargani and Ong, after undergoing medical checkup and COVID test at the Senate, arrived at the local city jail past 1:00 p.m. on Monday.
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Sen. Richard Gordon, chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee, confirmed the transfer in a statement.
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology earlier Monday said the Pasay City Jail is ready for the transfer as it also asserted that they will not extend any preferential treatment to the two Pharmally executives.
The Senate over the weekend ordered their transfer after they failed to provide missing source documents of Pharmally’s financial statements that were submitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Securities and Exchange Commission.
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III signed the commitment order on Saturday night.
Gordon said that in the course of the panel’s investigation into pandemic spending, their “work has faced obstacles to deter, delay or otherwise side-track its course.”
“Pharmally Pharmaceutical Executives Mohit and Twinkle Dargani, as well as Linconn Ong, have been evasive in answering questions, uttered lies, and spewed falsities, forcing the Committee to exercise its rarely used powers of contempt, ordering the incarceration of the three,” he continued.
Gordon recalled that Mohit gave three probable locations of the missing documents, and when the Office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms said they could go to the three locations, the latter “hemmed and hawed, resulting in the cancellation of the trip.”
“Mr. Dargani’s and Mr. Linconn’s continuous lying, continuous refusal to answer questions truthfully and forthrightly and the constant ‘palusots’ have crossed the line,” the senator added.
Three petitions filed over the Senate hearings have also been filed before the Supreme Court. The first was filed by Ong who questioned his continuing detention at the Senate.
The Senate has questioned Duterte’s ban on the executive branch from attending the said hearings, while former economic presidential adviser Michael Yang was the latest to run to the SC to seek the nullification of two Senate arrest orders and the lookout bulletin order against him. — Kristine Joy Patag