Col. Cesar Paday-os, Pasay City chief, led his men in securing the transfer of Pharmally executives Linconn Ong and Mohit Dargani to the Pasay City Jail Monday afternoon, Nov. 29.
Paday-os said Ong and Dargani together with Senate Sergeant-at-Arms head Manuel Parlade arrived at the Pasay City Hall compound at about 1:40 p.m. for the turnover of Ong and Dargani to the city jail.
The city police chief said that prior to the arrival of Ong and Dargani, they cleared the City Hall surroundings of traffic to ensure the safety of the two executives.
Paday-os said the two Pharmally executives were not cuffed when they arrived at Pasay City Jail. They earlier underwent antigen tests, and the results were negative.
BJMP spokesperson Xavier Solda assured that there will be no “special treatment” for the duo during their detention.
Solda said Pasay City Jail is a 1,000% congested facility that houses 1,104 Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs). It has a separate isolation area for newly committed PDLs which is part of the health and security procedures being observed in jails.
The two Pharmally directors were initially detained at the Senate after senators cited them in contempt for their answers in the ongoing Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the pandemic spending and alleged anomalous government contracts for medical supplies.
At the resumption of inquiry on Nov. 26, senators asked Dargani and Ong to provide the missing documents of Pharmally’s financial statements that were submitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Securities and Exchange Commission.
But after five hours of questioning, the two executives were still unsure of the location of the documents, prompting the committee to move that they be transferred to the Pasay City Jail.
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III signed on Sunday the order for the detention of Ong and Dargani in Pasay City Jail.