Senator Richard Gordon (File photo)
MANILA – Senator Richard Gordon said Thursday he is not surprised by the request of Pharmally executives Linconn Ong and Mohit Dargani for them to be released from detention.
Ong and Dargani have been detained in Pasay City jail upon the order of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chaired by Gordon who cited them for contempt.
Through a letter recently sent to Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Dargani appealed to grant their release as their families also asked the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate the alleged human rights violations committed against them by the Senate.
Gordon said Dargani and Ong have even lobbied to some of his fellow senators, high-ranking officials, and persons close to the lawmaker to release them from detention.
He clarified that Dargani and Ong were not detained simply because it was the liking of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
"Only clear violators of the Rules are subject to contempt: lying before the Committee, refusing to answer a valid question asked of the witnesses, and refusal to bring to the Committee documents required to be submitted, among others," Gordon said in a statement.
He noted that Dargani and Ong promised to locate and submit documents regarding Pharmally’s dealings with the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service (DBM-PS) for the acquisition of medical supplies and protective equipment at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
"They were even given the opportunity to be released from detention so the documents they had promised to submit could be located. However, when the day came for them to be released, they sent word that those documents did not exist," Gordon said in a statement.
He said the blue ribbon had no other choice but to continue their detention for lying that they will bring documents, and for failure or refusal to submit such documents to the committee.
"They have no one but themselves to blame for their continuing detention in the same manner that only their action, their compliance with just directives can pave the way for their release," Gordon said.
He also described the Pharmally executives' claim that he is just using the Pharmally issue for his reelection as a 'bigger lie'.
"If the price to be paid for doing my job excellently and passionately – all for the benefit of the people – was and is targeted negative campaigning, that I have paid and will always be willing to pay," Gordon said.
According to Dargani's letter to Sotto, Gordon stole his and Ong's life by bending the truth about Pharmally.
"He used us for his political ambitions," Dargani said.
Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio criticized Gordon for allegedly using the photographs of Ong and Dargani in his political advertisement as faces of graft and corruption. (PNA)
