The Senate Blue Ribbon committee chaired by Senator Richard J. Gordon wants to know how much was paid to an aviation company on the aborted escape of the Dargani siblings out of the Philippine jurisdiction to Malaysia through the Davao airport yesterday.
Through Gordon, Blue Ribbon committee Director-General Rodolfo Noel Quimbo wrote Isagani Lukban, president of Global Aviation Corporation, to provide the committee aviation documents related to the aborted departure of the Darganis who are executives of. Pharmally Pharmaceutical corporation.
The Darganis - Mohit and Twinkle - were supposed to escape aboard a LearJet 60 that came from Singapore.
The plane arrived in Davao City on Sunday afternoon and was to have flown the Darganis and their mother out to Malaysia at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday had not alert agents of the Senate Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms arrived on time to abort their flight.
Quimbo asked for the details and copies of the flight request, flight manifest and all documents related to the chartered flight, who paid for it, who signed the aviation documents and other flight information.
These documents are needed by the committee in its on-going investigation, in aid of legislation, on the purchase by the Procurement Service, Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) of P42 billion worth of COVID-19 pandemic medical supplies to 45 suppliers, including Pharmally.
Senators had wanted to know who ordered the Department of Health (DOH) to transmit its P42 billion COVID-19 response funds to PS-DBM.
They also want to know why Lloyd Christopher Lao, then PS-DBM chief, awarded contracts more than P10 billion in pandemic medical supplies to Pharmally which only had a paid up capital of.P625,000.
Three Pharmally executives are now under Senate custody.
The first to fall was Linconn Ong, Pharmally director.
Twinkle Dargani, Pharmally president, and her brother, Mohit, Pharmally corporate secretary, were arrested yesterday in Davao City while they were scheduled to escape through the country’s southern backdoor.
The committee issued warrants for their arrest after they suddenly became scarce during a committee hybrid public hearing. They had refused to submit their corporate documents to the committee.
They underwent physical examination at the Senate building.