SURPRISING senators with her straight confession, Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation government projects officer Krizle Grace Mago admitted Friday that the firm tampered medical-grade face shields with inaccurate expiration dates prior to its distribution to healthcare workers.
During the resumption of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, Mago said that she was instructed to ask warehouse staff to change the expiry date stickers from 2020 into 2021 in order to recycle and maintain the company’s steady supply of face shields.
“With regards to the changing of stickers of the items, my response would be that this was a supply concern. I raised this concern to our management and that was the solution that was given to us,” Mago said.
Asked who ordered the instruction, she pointed that it was Pharmally corporate treasurer and secretary Mohit Dargani.
“The instructions came from our management po. I received instructions from the PPC management, particularly Mohit Dargani,” she disclosed.
Dargani, however, denied the allegation and threw it back to Mago, saying it was her who initiated the idea otherwise, she might just be confused.
“The instruction did not come from me. I believe it was Krizle [who] asked it in our group if this is doable. But if the instruction came from me, it did not come from me,” Dargani said in defense.
“I think for Ms. Mago, I think because she is always used to getting instructions from me, maybe, in this scenario, she named me but it’s not the case,” he added.
Baffled as to who was telling the truth, senators made it clear with Mago and asked if Dargani’s denial would make her retract her statement.
Mago, however, insisted that she is a mere employee who follows the executives’ instructions and so, as she claimed, it is no longer in the course of her duty to initially give any command.
“I always follow instructions po. But, allow me to check also on our records or conversations to verify it but generally, as an employee, I always follow instructions,” Mago stated.
“I am not changing my statement, Mr. Chairman,” she added.
The Senate inquiry with Mago came after Senator Risa Hontiveros showed a video clip of an unidentified warehouse staff who said that Pharmally was allegedly changing the expiration dates of face shields which, as she believed, were meant for medical frontliners.
The witness claimed that the firm urged them to still repack face shields regardless if the box or the item itself is dented or dirty.
The staff also recalled that after polishing the products, they were asked to put a sticker which indicates that it will be delivered to the Department of Health (DOH), giving them an idea that the face shields are for healthcare workers.
Senator Kiko Pangilinan raised his concern that many health frontliners who got contracted with or died from COVID-19 must have used, at some point, the “substandard” face shields manufactured by Pharmally.
“Maaari, dahil ‘yong gano’ng klaseng quality ay substandard, maaari mayroong mga nurse at mga doktor na nagka-COVID at namatay dahil sa substandard na dapat sana’y medical-grade na face shields dahil nga pinalitan ang expiry date at ibinigay ang quality na hindi naman tama,” he said.
Pangilinan further emphasized that by admitting Pharmally’s trick, Mago would be held liable but assured that she will be protected, should she choose to cooperate and reveal all the things she knows about the firm’s transactions.
“Inamin mo na. D’yaan pa lang ay mayroon ka nang pananagutan pero kung ikaw ay magiging [witness who is] telling the whole truth, then we might be able to provide you or we will, we should be able to provide the necessary security to protect you as you cooperate,” the legislator said.
Meanwhile, Senator Richard Gordon as the chair of the committee brought the puzzle pieces together and stressed that if the claim was true, Pharmally must have swindled the government, which Mago has agreed.
“I believe so, Mr. Chairman. I believe that is the case,” Mago told Gordon.
The Senate is continuously probing the controversial P8.6 billion worth of supply contracts of Pharmally with the government for its procurement of medical supplies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senators have earlier unveiled that there is a “fraud” in the company’s financial statements and that it cannot possibly have billions-worth of deals when it was established just a few months ago with only over P600,000 paid-up capital.
(PHOTO CREDIT: gmanetwork.com)