Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 30) — The witness presented by Senator Risa Hontiveros during a Senate hearing has denied being bribed into testifying against Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., the firm that bagged more than ₱11 billion worth of contracts to supply medical goods to the government.
“Ako po ‘yung unang nag-email sa page po ni Senator Risa Hontiveros para humingi ng tulong po… Gusto ko lang pong i-share doon ‘yung mga anomalya po doon sa ginagawa naming face shield,” the unnamed witness said in an online media briefing in response to questions raised by Atty. Jaye Bekema, Hontiveros’ chief legislative officer.
[Translation: I was the first to email Senator Risa Hontiveros’ page to ask for help. I just wanted to share the anomalies we have been doing with the face shields.]
Only the witness’ cap could be seen during the virtual interview. It was held to dispute the claims made by Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, counsel for Pharmally director Linconn Ong, who’s now being held by the Senate for allegedly lying during the hearings.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Topacio showed a video of another warehouse staff, who claimed that Hontiveros’ witness received money from Bekema in exchange for his testimony.
Bekema belied this. She showed the email sent by the witness on Sept. 9, saying that it even took them more than two weeks to vet the information before presenting the testimony during the hearing on Sept. 24.
In the video, the witness introduced himself as a Pharmally warehouse employee and admitted to changing the expiration dates of face shields to be supplied to the government. He added they were told to repack even the dented and dirty medical-grade face shields.
“Inamin na rin naman po ni Ms. (Krizle) Mago ‘yun kaya po talagang – totoo po lahat ng sinabi ko,” the witness said. “Kusang loob ko pong sinabi po sa inyo ‘yun. Wala naman po akong bayad na hiningi po sa inyo.”
[Translation: Ms. Mago herself confirmed it, so that means what I am saying is true. I volunteered the information. I did not ask for money in return.]
Pharmally’s regulatory affairs head Krizle Grace Mago admitted to swindling the government by tampering with the expiration date of face shields. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee wanted to place her under protective custody to ensure her safety, but they had not been able to contact her since weekend.
Asked if they would file a libel complaint against Topacio, Hontiveros said consultations are underway, but they want to focus now on the Senate inquiry on alleged anomalies in the procurement of medical supplies for pandemic response.
“Gusto tayong ilihis ni Atty. Topacio at ng mga kasabwat niya,” Hontiveros said. “Iyan ay dahil ang mga naghahanap, tulad ng Blue Ribbon Committee, tulad ng aming opisina, ay nakikita na, nasusulyapan na ang landas tungo doon sa katotohanan.]
[Translation: Atty. Topacio and his conspirators want to divert our attention… It only shows that the ones investigating, like the Blue Ribbon Committee and our office, are now seeing the right path to the truth.]
She did not name who Topacio’s cohorts are, but pointed out that his efforts are not different from President Rodrigo Duterte’s attempts to discredit the Senate probe.
Hontiveros said that during the tenth hearing on Thursday, she wanted to know if the supposedly substandard face shields were delivered to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management.
Bekema said nothing’s certain now because the only recent notice of award available online is for Pharmally’s supply of testing kits to the Procurement Service.
Earlier, Pharmally’s corporate secretary Mohit Dargani confirmed they have a pending delivery of PPE, including medical-grade face shields, but he did not go into detail.
