No special treatment will be accorded to the two Pharmally executives who were sent to the Pasay City Jail for allegedly failing to submit the documents on the multi-billion transactions on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) face masks and face shields the company supplied to the government.
This was the assurance by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) on Tuesday, Nov. 30.
BJMP spokesperson Chief Inspector Xavier Solda i said Pharmally officials Linconn Ong and Mohit Dargani were in good condition and cooperative a day after their transfer to the Pasay City Jail.
Last week, the Senate blue ribbon committee headed by Senator Richard Gordon ordered Ong and Dargani to be detained at the Pasay City Jail after the latter failed to present details on the location of the company's financial statements.
The Senate is at present probing the transfer of P42 billion coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) funds from the Department of Health (DOH) to the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).
The Senate is questioning the PS-DBM’s purchase of P8.6 billion worth of COVID-19 equipment from Pharmally which only had P625,000 capital at the time when the company entered into a transaction with the government.
Solda noted that Ong, Pharmally’s director and Dargani the firm's corporate secretary and treasurer were transferred to Pasay City Jail from the Senate on Nov. 30.
He added that Ong and Dargani are staying at the isolation cell inside the Pasay City Jail for the mandatory quarantine for the next 10 to 14 days as part of BJMP's health protocols.
Prior to the transfer, Solda noted that Dargani and Ong underwent a medical examination and COVID-19 antigen test.
Pasay City Jail is a 1000 percent congested facility which houses 1,104 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).
The facility does not have a separate facility except the isolation area intended for newly committed PDL which is part of the health and security procedures being observed in the BJMP jails. (Chito A. Chavez)