THE House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability recommended the filing of charges against executives of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. regarding the alleged “overpricing” in the purchase of medical supplies as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also included in the raps are some officials of the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).
According to committee chairman Rep. Michael Aglipay, the committee saw that no overpricing was committed in the purchase of the materials, supplies and equipment that the PS-DBM did for the Department of Health (DOH).
This is stated in their committee report in relation to the “motu proprio inquiry” conducted in September and October 2021, regarding the controversy of the “overpriced” medical supplies.
The process in the emergency procurement based on the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act as done by the PS-DBM under the guidance of Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Circular No. 01-2020 were “consistent” with the rules and regulations so there was nothing “irregular or illegal.”
However, the committee said that the requirements by the GPPB under emergency procurement of the Bayanihan Law were “extremely deficient” to be able to evaluate properly the capacity of the supplier.
Among those recommended by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to face syndicated estafa charges were Pharmally officials Huang Tzu Yen, Mohit Dargani, Twinkle Dargani, Lincoln Ong, Justine Garado and Krizle Grace Mago, under Presidential Decree 1689 in relation to Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code.
Also to face appropriate charges at the Office of the Ombudsman in relation to falsification of public documents were Jorge Mendoza II and Mervin Ian Tanquintic of the PS-DBM Inspection Division.
This is based on the admission of the two officials that they both signed the pro-forma Inspection & Certification of Acceptance Report (ICAR) while the products were still in China without any requisite inspection.