Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday, Oct. 4 commended the Department of Health (DOH) for suspending its transactions with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation following the testimony of a company official who admitted to tampering the manufacturing dates of face shields procured from the firm.
The DOH had said it decided to “suspend acceptance and further deliveries of face shields from Pharmally, pending the conclusion of the investigations in the department.”
“Salamat at nakinig ang Department of Health (DOH) sa panawagang huwag munang makipagtransaksyon ang gobyerno sa Pharmally. Buhay ng mga frontliners ang nakataya dito (I’m thankful that DOH listened to our calls for the government to suspend any transactions with Pharmally. The life of our frontliners are at stake here),” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“Kung sakaling mapatunayang substandard ang mga deliveries ng Pharmally, dapat ma-blacklist na rin ang kaduda-dudang kompanyang ito (Should there be sufficient evidence that Pharmally made substandard deliveries, they should blacklist this doubtful company),” she said.
Krizle Grace Mago, an incorporator and regulatory affairs head of Pharmally, had earlier testified before the Senate that she ordered the company’s warehouse workers to change the production dates of the face shields procured by the government through the Department of Budget and Management’s Procurement Service (DBM-PS) from 2020 to 2021 for use of doctors and nurses against COVID-19.
Mago confirmed her deed after a warehouse worker testified during one of the recent hearings of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. Mago, however, said she was only acting on the orders of another management official, Mohit Dargani.
Only recently, Mago has sought protective custody at the House of Representatives after going incommunicado for some days after her testimony.
Hontiveros said she will support the DOH should the agency decide to pursue legal actions against Pharmally.
The lawmaker also reiterated her call for the DBM-PS to suspend any pending transactions they have with Pharmally.
“Sumunod sana sila sa yapak ng DOH, dahil hindi na dapat pagbigyan pa ang kumpanyang ito (I hope they follow in the DOH footsteps, because this company do not deserve a second chance),” she said.