The executive of Pharmally Pharmaceuticals Corp. who admitted in sworn testimony before the Senate that her company had swindled the government by tampering with the manufacturing dates of face shields sold to it denied her account on Monday, calling it a “pressured response.”
“Given the level of pressure I was under, and the rush of emotions associated with the allegations and my subsequent admission, I was not in the best frame of mind to think clearly,” Pharmally’s head of regulatory affairs Krizle Grace Mago told a more sympathetic hearing at the House of Representatives.
Mago, who has been under the protective custody of the House since Oct. 1, also denied allegations that Pharmally delivered expired, substandard, and tampered COVID-19 supplies to the government.
“It is in the conduct of this quality control that PPC was able to identify damaged items such as, but not limited to, dented, folded, torn or broken, and discolored face shields,” she said, adding that the damaged items were immediately segregated subject to disposal and excluded from delivery.
It was the first time Mago appeared before the House panel, which has been less critical of the government and its P8 billion deal with Pharmally, after she allegedly went missing following her controversial admission in the Senate last Sept. 24 that Pharmally changed the manufacturing dates on the face shields distributed to medical frontliners last year.
Mago also said her experience with the Senate was “extremely traumatic” having been repeatedly accused of lying and threatened with contempt. In fact, she noted that another Pharmally executive, Linconn Ong, is still detained in the Senate for contempt after declining to testify in an executive session.
“Personally, I was perplexed as to how I could be perceived as a liar when I was simply responding directly to questions based on facts reflected on the records, which I even promptly forwarded to the committee upon request,” Mago said.
Mago revealed she contracted COVID-19 during the course of the Senate hearings, which resulted in a decline in her physical health.
“Additionally, the overwhelming pressure and intense scrutiny of the investigations have had a detrimental effect on my mental health,” Mago said.
“Over and above these, my personal mobile phone number and address were also revealed, resulting in unwanted harassment and distressing messages,” she added.
Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta, who has backed President Duterte’s attacks on the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, assured Mago that the House panel would never “traumatize” witnesses.
“It seems to me it was an interrogation similar to the questioning employed by military establishment, law enforcement officers, and even intelligence agencies or organized crime syndicates,” Marcoleta said of his counterparts in the Senate. “These are the means employed in exacting information by said agencies and groups.”
Panel chairman DIWA Party-List Rep. Michael Aglipay, who justified the tampering of the manufacturing dates on the face shields by saying nobody died from the practice, also said the House would not “resort to bullying and intimidation.”
Aglipay said Mago went to the House on her own free will and volition to seek protective custody.
The House is conducting its own investigation of the government’s procurement of emergency medical supplies for the pandemic but has been far less critical of the administration’s decision to buy P8 billion worth of medical supplies from Pharmally, a small start-up that did not even have P1 million in paid-up capital.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III had earlier testified before the House that the face shields were “properly distributed to and utilized by health workers.”
Duque also clarified that the established shelf life of face shields is 36 months or three years.
During the Sept. 24 Senate hearing, Senator Richard Gordon asked Mago if she thought they were swindling the government. Mago said, “I believe so, Mr. Chairman.”
She said at that time she considered the fact that they had already delivered a portion or 28 percent of the face shields to DOH
“However, after the Senate hearing, I realized that the delivered items had not been inspected yet and, as a result, had not been allocated and distributed to the end-users. Additionally, we did not receive any payment from the government for the partial delivery,” she said.
Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, said Mago was committing perjury.
“She took an oath and she took it — you saw her — she was very calm. She was on video. I asked her twice, she was asked by other senators, she said a definite yes, ‘I believe so,’ not just yes,” Gordon said.
“And you know I’m not surprised, because obviously, it was all a sham. She pretended to be in hiding, then scared, we even became worried about her… and then the bosses took her and brought her to the House, which is friendly to Pharmally’s interest and they’ve been defending Pharmally. They’ve been defending the President’s position,” Gordon said.
He added that this would not weaken the Blue Ribbon committee’s recommendations.
“What she has said, she has to answer for. It is what it is. It’s not like she was under police interrogation,” Gordon said.
He also dismissed Mago’s statement that she was pressured in the Senate.
“But look at the video, if that’s what she wants to portray, but what you and the media know are two different things. And you know it,” Gordon said.
“Don’t give her that latitude to lie, when you know that she’s lying,” he added.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon described Mago’s response in the Senate as “spontaneous” and the same could be reviewed in the live video of the hearing.
“What is a ‘pressured response?’ Ms. Mago’s statement was spontaneous, with no trace of any ‘pressure’ being exerted. The statement was on video, under oath. Note that she did not deny making the statement that the government was swindled,” Drilon said.
He also said Mago’s statement that she was “not in the best frame of mind to think clearly” is totally self-serving, does not have any value, and cannot be corroborated.
Senator Francis Pangilinan called Mago a “rehearsed witness.”
He said Mago, the officials of Pharmally, and former presidential adviser on economic policy Michael Yang had one purpose – to lie and twist the testimonies “even if they were already caught.”
Senator Aquilino Pimentel III said Mago’s credibility is already at risk after her recanted her statement before the Senate.
He pointed out that the hearing was done virtually and without the physical presence of the senators or anyone from the Senate Blue Ribbon committee.
“That means, there’s no one from the Senate, the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, or even a senator that is with you in the same room where they can pressure you because you are seeing each other face to face,” he said.
“Who was with you during the hearing? No one. That’s why your testimonies are not under duress or under pressure. There’s no physical pressure,” Pimentel said.
Senator Risa Hontiveros said Mago was testifying under oath.
“Questions were only directed to her and she, in fact, answered forthrightly,” she said.
“By all means, let’s go back to the Senate transcript and the video of the hearing,” she continued.
First, Mago admitted that they changed the production year certificates. She even said “that’s something I cannot deny,” Hontiveros said.
Then she pointed to her boss Mohit Dargani, saying she was “only following instructions.”
Second, when asked if she thought Pharmally was swindling the government, Mago said, “I believe so.”
“Pressured response? It is sad that Ms. Mago feels this way. Telling the truth is a relief. The greatest pressure is to lie,” Hontiveros added.