Thread by @cnnphilippines

THREAD: Senate Blue Ribbon Committee holds 11th hearing on the handling of COVID-19 funds | LIVE bit.ly/3lcLSEB

Tweets by our correspondent @eimorpsantos, digital producers @kristellimpot and @pplmanuel

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Pharmally's Krizle Mago has logged in. Yesterday, she recanted her stunning testimony that the company tampered with the expiration dates of face shields sold to the gov't.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel LOOK: Pharmally's Mago attends the Senate hearing. She's currently under the protective custody of the House of Representatives.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Pharmally's Twinkle Dargani skips today's hearing. Her counsel submits a medical certificate, saying she's experiencing panic attacks.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Committee secretariat director-general Rodolfo Quimbo recaps Pharmally director's Linconn Ong's move not to participate anymore in the panel's hearings. "Nor is he submitting anything," he adds.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Richard Gordon warns Sophia Mercedes Custodio may be in contempt if she doesn't show up in the committee's hearings.

The panel failed to subpoena her since no one's in the office address where it was served as "everyone is working from home."

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon laments COVID-19 fatalities: Ilan dito ang preventable deaths? Preventable dahil kung di nilustay ang pera ng bayan na makikita sa overpriced supplies ng mga mandarambong, ilan kaya ang nakapasok nang maayos at maaga sa ospital?

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon on panel continuing the probe into pandemic response funds: Ang committee, pag sinabi namin hanggang kingdom come, ibig sabihin resolute. We will not leave a stone unturned.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon calls President Rodrigo Duterte's memorandum barring Cabinet members from attending Senate hearings "unconstitutional."

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon: Napaka-swerte ng Pharmally. Lahat, gabundok na kwarta ng bayan... at least ₱8.8 hanggang ₱12 billion ang nalustay dito na pinagbigyan na favorite ng PS-DBM. Pero ang pera nila, ₱625,000 lamang.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon slams Duterte anew: Sino ba ang kahol nang kahol, ang nagmumura gabi-gabi tuwing haharap [sa publiko]? Di na sinasabi sitwasyon ng bansa nating nahihirapan na. Sino po ba, kundi ang ating Presidente?

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon to Duterte: Sabi mo isang whiff of corruption, di mo pararaanin. Ito na, mga taong inappoint mo. Pag sayo kasi, pag tao mo, tao mo. Pati sundalo namin, inangkin mo na.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon to Duterte: You cannot fool the people all the time. The people are coming for you.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon to Duterte: Once upon a time I may have considered you my friend… I did not lose anything when you lost my friendship. Ikaw ang nawalan because wala ka nang mga kaibigan na matitino.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Senate President Tito Sotto: I was tempted earlier to comment on some unworthy comments made on the committee and some of our statements here, but we'll just ignore them

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Ping Lacson plays a clip of Pharmally official Mago's bombshell admission in the committee's Sept. 24 hearing on the tampering of face shields' expiry dates.

Mago recently retracted her statement, noting it was a "pressured" response.

cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/10/4…

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Risa Hontiveros shares screenshots of the messages sent by the witness she earlier presented — a Pharmally warehouse worker who testified against the company: Siya po ay natatakot para sa kanyang buhay dahil mayroon pong nakamotor na pinaghahanap siya

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Hontiveros: The witness has given us permission to share these screenshots. As far as I am concerned, the witness’ statement was corroborated by Krizle Mago’s unrehearsed testimony before this chamber. But I would like these threats to be placed on the record.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Francis Tolentino says the the Administrative Code must be amended to have OICs with "limited powers, limited signing authorities and time-bound" given recent developments concerning former PS-DBM OIC Lloyd Christopher Lao

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Tolentino: I'm passionate with this issue. The root cause of all this is the functions of the GPPB [Government Procurement Policy Board]. It was able to mangle, dissect and usurp Congress' power by making IRRs.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Tolentino on GPPB: That's the only government agency I've seen so far my entire life that has made 21 IRRs for a single law, the Government Procurement Act

https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines/status/1445246126869803014

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon reiterates the Bayanihan 2 law states preference shall be given for products, items manufactured in the Philippines

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Duterte's directive: This has all the red flags of unconstitutionality. It only covers the particular Blue Ribbon Committee hearing. I cannot see any other memorandum as blatantly unconstitutional as what we have before us.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Lacson says the issuance only covers hearings of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Drilon on Duterte's memorandum for Cabinet officials: This does not involve national security, diplomatic or military secrets; therefore, appearance before this committee cannot be barred, much less only for this particular hearing.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Lacson asks laughingly: What will happen to BIR Commissioner Dulay? He testified.

Sen. Gordon: This is no laughing matter, if I may remind my colleagues. I laugh with you, but I cry with you also.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon cites the Philippine Bar Association's statement against the memorandum, which notes it "upsets our system of checks and balances"

cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/10/5…

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Tolentino: What we're doing now — some would equate with political mudslinging, politicking — is still anchored in what's based in our Constitution

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon to Duterte: Hindi ito away nating dalawa. Para ito sa kapakanan ng bayang pino-proteksyunan natin.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon addresses Duterte: Kung galit ka, wag mo gamitin pera ng gobyerno para bumanat ka nang bumanat, siraan ang Commission on Audit at Senado.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Joel Villanueva questions Pharmally president Huang Tzu Yen for the firm's ₱1.3M in employees' benefits despite supposedly not making mandatory gov't contributions

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Villanueva: It's either you're fooling your employees, the government or both. Unfortunately, these records wouldn't lie.

https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines/status/1445255861765427206

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Following President Duterte’s order barring all executive officials from attending the Blue Ribbon Committee’s inquiry, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, others skip today’s hearing.

Among gov’t officials, only those from Customs, BIR, CSC, and COA are logged in.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Pharmally's Huang says Michael Yang acted as a guarantor for some projects: I don't know exact negotiations but they were more than willing to release the goods to us, help in the COVID fight in the Philippines.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel COA chairman Mike Aguinaldo says inventory management issues they flagged with PS-DBM concerned PPEs, common use supplies related to COVID-19 they procured using their own funds

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel COA chairman Aguinaldo: These items really went to their warehouse. Unlike items procured for DOH, bulk were delivered directly either to OCD and DOH and its hospitals.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel COA chairman Aguinaldo: When there's no physical count of assets referred to — property, plant and equipment (PPE) — there's no way for auditors to verify what's on paper. It's a common problem of many agencies.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Pharmally director Linconn Ong is now answering questions from Sen. Kiko Pangilinan.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Pangilinan addresses Pharmally executive Mohit Dargani: The bulk of expired testing kits worth ₱550 million came from you, ₱550 million worth of useless testing kits...I hope you understand where we're coming from.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Pangilinan on Pharmally's delivery of supposedly expired COVID-19 testing kits: It's like there were no rules. What was set out, written were disregarded. Where are we?

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Drilon to Pharmally's Dargani: You can dispute you did it legally etc., no one will believe you. The Filipino people are disgusted with what they've seen in these hearings because of your actions in connivance with some government official.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Pharmally's Dargani says all their contracts with PS-DBM were fully delivered, while one contract with DOH was put on hold "possibly for termination" by the DOH.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel When asked whether he would recommend deferring the collection of pending receivables from gov't until controversies are resolved, Dargani says he would "have to defer to the Board's decision."

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Pharmally's Dargani: The recommendation shouldn't come from me, it should come from the chairman of the board.

https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines/status/1445276478732570625

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Pharmally's Dargani says the board must unanimously approve any submission of documents when asked by Sen. Drilon whether he could commit to handing them the requested papers.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Drilon: I did not realize submitting documents to the Senate would require board approval. I don't accept that.

https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines/status/1445278131133186050

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Pangilinan to "missing" government employees: To those not present in today's hearing, we will see you in the budget hearings. We may raise these questions in those hearings.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon asks Pharmally's Dargani if he is a "big-time investor," to which he says no.

Sen. Gordon: How much have you invested in stocks?
Pharmally's Dargani: I invoke my right against self-incrimination
Sen. Gordon: No, you cannot. There's no reason, no connection.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Pharmally's Dargani says this information is "private" for him.

Sen. Gordon: There's nothing private in an inquiry involving government money that has been apparently stolen.

Pharmally's Dargani: It's not government money.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon to Pharmally's Huang: You can't seem to give me a specific answer. First you say you say you have money of your own, then you say you have line of credit.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Pharmally's Huang retracts a statement he made in an earlier hearing, says the firm didn’t obtain a ₱500M letter of credit: I really apologize again if I made that mistake on record. We never had a letter of credit of ₱500M.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon to Pharmally's Huang: The fact you have a credit certificate means UnionBank gave credit in your behalf. Whether you used it or not, it's not relevant to that fact the bank has collateral to give that credit line.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon to Pharmally's Dargani: You're not only lying, you're feasting on money given to you by my countrymen in taxes and you buy yourself nice vehicles.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Pharmally's Huang maintains they never received any advance payment from government.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon asks former Budget Sec. Wendel Avisado: Bakit walang official receipt ang pagtanggap ng cheque (from Pharmally) at puro collection receipt lang?

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Avisado: I really wouldn't know PS-DBM’s procedures. I’m the one releasing the funds, and they’re implementing it, so it’s kind of very irregular kung makikialam ako.

https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines/status/1445297623225679880

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Pharmally's Ong: I'm always a proud Filipino. Mahal na mahal ko po ang Pilipinas.

Sen. Gordon: Mahal na mahal mo ang Filipino, pero kinukuha mo panay Chinese supplier.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Pharmally’s Ong commits to providing the Senate panel with info on the four suppliers of Pharmally: As for the list, I’d really like to cooperate and I will definitely even update it.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Sen. Gordon asks Ong to confirm if Pharmally paid only ₱4k to an outsourced accountant who audited the firm's financial statement and if they're refusing to release some documents.

Ong: I'm not aware of the engagement of our firm w/ that accounting firm. Di ko alam mga detalye

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Former special adviser Dr. Tony Leachon: If we rechannel some of the funding for the face shields and face masks to the testing, I think we should be alright by this time.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Dr. Leachon notes the recent Bloomberg resilience ranking, says PH COVID-19 positivity rate — which is now at 20% — is second worst, next to Mexico.

https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines/status/1445309867447623685

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Dr. Leachon: I think we should actually plan for the COVID-19 boosters. If we’re not going to think about the boosters like other countries are doing right now, we cannot just get the mRNA vaccines, because these are the only ones approved for the booster.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel Dr. Leachon: So, we’re behind in the vaccination, and this means we will not get the herd immunity.

@eimorpsantos @kristellimpot @pplmanuel The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee suspends its session until Oct. 12, Tuesday at 11 a.m.