Sen. Richard Gordon said Tuesday the Senate was right to send to a regular jail cell two businessmen who refused to cooperate in a long-running investigation on what he described as "abominable" deals to supply government with face shields and medical gear.
Gordon, who leads the investigation into Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp, addressed concerns that the Senate could have abused its authority when it shipped company executives Linconn Ong and Mohit Dargani to the Pasay City Jail.
Ong and Dargani were detained in the Senate premises after they were cited in contempt by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee for failing to produce company documents subpoenaed by the panel.
"No. In fact, we have been very kind to them. They have been lying from Day 1 and they don't really care whether we find out because they know they're guilty," Gordon said when asked on ANC if the Senate went beyond its powers.
"The Senate has to abrogate upon itself to protect the Senate as an institution, that we have to make sure that we cannot just be denied with impunity," he added.
The Senate is investigating Pharmally after it bagged over P8 billion in contracts to provide medical supplies last year despite having only P625,000 in paid-up capital.
Gordon wondered how Dargani, the company's corporate secretary and treasure, could not provide documents the Senate was asking for as well as the costs of the good they sold.
"These people feel that they are beyond the law. The amount of money that they took at the time of pandemic is just abominable," he said.
"Why would they not want to tell us, if they have nothing to hide? It's a simple matter of showing the documents, the cost of goods sold. They have to tell us where the money came from," he added.
Gordon earlier said the committee would recommend graft charges and other cases against Pharmally executives and some government officials over what he described as "grossly disadvantageous" COVID-19 supply contracts.
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