A lawyer has criticized Sen. Ricard J. Gordon, chairperson of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, for allegedly using the photographs of two detained executives of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation in his re-election bid.
Lawyer Ferdinand S. Topcio said Gordon used the photographs of Pharmally executives Linconn Ong and Mohit Dargani in his (Gordon’s) political advertisement as “faces of graft and corruption.”
Ong and Dargani have been ordered detained by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee in the course of its investigations into alleged anomalous government purchases from the firm for medical supplies for use in the Covid-19 pandemic. They have been in jail since November 2021.
“I call out in the strongest terms the latest advertisement of Senator Gordon which used images of my clients. Under the Constitution, Ong and Dargani enjoy the presumption of innocence and the right to due process both of which have been denied them by Gordon” Topacio said.
He pointed out that while the investigation had been concluded and the Senate is now on recess, Ong and Dargani still languish in jail, ”so Gordon capitalized on their detention for his political ambition.”
“My clients have been made to look guilty without the benefit of even a court case, much less a trial. Gordon, in seeking to promote himself at the expense of my clients, has exhibited conduct that is very unseemly of a lawyer and a Senator. If only for this, he should be repudiated by the electorate” he added.
He then called on Senate President Tito Sotto III “see to it that the Senate and its members adhere to certain ethical standards and not use that august chamber for their own nefarious agenda.”
He also appealed to several media platforms to reject Gordon’s political advertisement “for being not just offensive but is clearly violative of the Constitution.”
Sen. Panfilo Lacson had earlier said he is in favor for the release of both Dargani and Ong since the Senate has already concluded its investigation on the Pharmally issue, and final report had already been issued.