Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 24) — The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee wants officials of Greentrends Trading arrested after the panel failed to issue them subpoenas due to “fictitious” addresses.
Greentrends supplied face masks to TigerPhil Marketing, which then sold these to the country’s top medical supplier Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation.
“I would like to request the Senate President to issue a subpoena to compel the attendance of these people and that they be arrested by the OSAA (Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms),” committee chairman Sen. Richard Gordon said.
Committee secretariat director general Rodolfo Quimbo earlier reported that Greentrends officials Andres Aquino, Raffy Barcina, and Ryan Escano had “fictious” addresses while those of Carlos Agustin and Jayson Espino do not exist.
These were the addresses provided to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Quimbo noted, adding that the company and its officials were registered with the regulatory body.
Senators have said TigerPhil and Pharmally earned millions of pesos from the sale to the government of the face masks supplied by Greentrends.
Pharmally is in hot water for its sale of what senators deemed overpriced face masks and face shields. It has also been criticized for earning billions of pesos in government procurement deals despite having a paid-up capital of just ₱625,000.
