Thread by @cnnphilippines

THREAD: 13th hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the handling of COVID-19 funds, including alleged procurement anomalies | LIVE bit.ly/3BydvwR

Updated by our correspondent @eimorpsantos, digital producers @mrvinceangelo and @pplmanuel

Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Richard Gordon thanks the National Privacy Commission for stating data privacy rights can't be invoked to evade legal proceedings

Sen. Gordon criticizes how Pharmally corporate secretary Mohit Dargani abruptly left the panel's last hearing after being told he and firm president Twinkle Dargani will be detained in the Senate until they answer questions on source documents

cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/10/2…

Sen. Gordon: Bakit niya [President Duterte] pinagtatanggol ang isang private company? Bakit niya pinagtatanggol ang isang taong nagngangalang Michael Yang? Sa akin lang po, Mr. President, lumalabas sa akin na ito ay foreign agents.

Gordon: Gusto ko na tumawag ng isang hearing sa liderato ni Sen. Lacson, na i-brief tayo ng AFP, ng security agencies natin, kung talagang totoo na napasukan na tayo and I'm sure napasukan na tayo ng mga tao galing sa ibang bansa, na walang ginawa lalo na may problema tayo sa WPS

Sen. Gordon: Malinaw na pinasok tayo ng sawa ang ating poultry ng bayan at nilinhgkis lahat ng perang binayad ng tayo para makatulong sana dito sa problema sa pandemya

Sen. Gordon slams Pharmally director Linconn Ong's refusal to answer questions, citing "trade secrets": Nakakainsulto na may ugali ang mga Chinese na pinipilit niyang pairalin dito sa negosyo

Sen. Gordon: Siguro dapat magtanong ang taumbayan — na si Tatay Digong kung tawagin natin, dapat inaalagaan ang mga anak, ang pamilya ng Pilipinas. Ang inaalagaan niya ang interes ng China sa West Philippine Sea, interes ni Michael Yang.

Sen. Gordon: Mr. President, hindi sa inyo ang West Philippine Sea. Ang may-ari po niyan, ang bansang Pilipinas.

Sen. Gordon slams Duterte for not releasing his SALNs to the public, notes senators have consistently shared theirs: Kung walang dapat i-doktor o ikatakot, bakit tinatago 'yan?

Sen. Gordon to Duterte: Paalala ito bilang kaibigan, may panahon pa kayo para maghunos-dili at maipakita talagang mamumuno kayo nang maayos

Sen. Gordon to Duterte: All glory is temporary and transitional.
Wag kang malasing sa pambobola ng marami na ikaw ay sikat na sikat at hindi ka na pwede magkamali.

Sen. Gordon to Duterte: Hindi kayo father of the nation or Tatay Digong para lamang sa mga nangulimbat dito sa Pharmally, sa pera ng bayan ngayong pandemya.

Sen. Gordon: The executive harms the people by siding with the few abusive, already rich, unscrupulous individuals

Sen. Gordon says Duterte should answer for the anomalies: Lumalakas ang loob nitong si Linconn Ong, Mohit Dargani, Michael Yang, lumalakas po lahat ng mga banyaga sapagkat kayo ang abogado nila… Kayo ang dapat managot ultimately.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon: It's incumbent upon this committee to look into taxes paid by these suppliers

Sen. Drilon makes a motion to make public the income tax returns of the following:

• Pharmally Pharmaceutical execs Mohit and Twinkle Dargani, Linconn Ong, Justine Garado
• Yang Hong Min, also known as Michael Yang
• Rose Nono Lin
• Zuxhou Construction Machinery Group

Sen. Risa Hontiveros seconds the motion

https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines/status/1453577005564190725

Sen. Gordon: The motion is carried. Proper orders will be done right away. They should be able to immediately publish the documentation.

Sen. Drilon: May I also move that the committee adapts a resolution urging the BIR to form a task force the specific purpose of special audit on the returns made by the suppliers of the medical supplies worth ₱42 billion

Embattled Chinese businessman and former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang is present in today's hearing

Sen. Drilon says that Michael Yang did not file ITRs from 2014 to 2017

Sen. Drilon says Pharmally claimed a tax credit of ₱96 million in their ITR, but they did not pay any tax

LOOK: Sen. Drilon presents a summary of tax records of Pharmally and its officers based on documents from BIR.

Drilon: Pharmally did not pay any tax. The ITRs of the Darganis are very low considering they were able to buy luxury cars.

Tax expert Mon Abrea: Malinaw po sa ating National Internal Revenue Code, na kahit sino na hindi nagbayad ng buwis, hindi naka-rehistro sa BIR, hindi nag-file ng tax return, at naga-under declare ng kanilang sales, or nagke-claim ng expenses na walang supporting documents (1/2)

Tax expert Abrea: Lahat po 'yan ay criminal violations of the tax code and grounds for tax evasion (2/2)

LOOK: Former Duterte adviser Michael Yang did not file any ITR from 2014-2017, then paid ₱7,600 tax in 2018, based on BIR records. His ITRs in 2019 and 2020 are not readable

Sen. Drilon: Did you have access to the documents supporting the cost of sales of ₱7.2 billion?

Pharmally account Jeff Mariano: I had access... Lahat po ng original records, copies nasa client po, nasa Pharmally po.

Gordon: Ang palabas mo sa amin, outsource ka lang, job-order ka lang, kaya yung mga dokumento na ibinibigay sa’yo ay hindi ka expected to analyze or make any comments?

Mariano: Yes po, we are not required to inquire of management. We only rely sa truthfulness and veracity.

Mariano: At year end, wala po akong nakikitang outstanding.

Gordon: So bayad lahat? Wala silang utang?

Mariano: Yes po.

Gordon: Ang may utang sa kanila ay gobyerno ba?

Mariano: Yes po.

Sen. Drilon: 'Dun sa financial statements na ginawa niyo, may entry kayo dun: income taxes paid, P95,501,130. Is that correct?

Mariano says yes.

Sen. Drilon then asks what the P96,089,293 tax credit is about, which resulted in a claimed refund of P589,163. (1/2)

Mariano: Based on the certificate of taxes withheld po 'yan.

Sen. Drilon: Eh bakit ang cina-claim niyo sa financial statement niyo ang income tax paid is only P95,501,130 and not P96,089,293? (2/2)

Sen. Risa Hontiveros: Ni-record niyo ba yung creditable witholding tax ng Pharmally?

Mariano: Yes po.

Sen. Hontiveros: Nakita niyo ba yung BIR Form 2307?

Mariano: Yes po. (1/2)

Sen. Hontiveros: Sino yung nag-file ng VAT returns monthly ng Pharmally?

Mariano: Kami po, October 2020 onwards. (2/2)

Sen. Ping Lacson quizzes detained Pharmally director Linconn Ong over the firm's net financial contracting capacity (NFCC)

Sen. Lacson addresses Sen. Gordon: Mr. Chairman, maybe you can include in your preliminary committee report na may maliwanag na violation dito ng Anti-Graft law.

Sen. Lacson on Pharmally: Hindi dapat nabigyan ng kontrata na mas mahigit pa sa x10 ng kanilang net working capital, lumampas sila. Nasundan pa ito ng mga katakot-takot na deliveries

Confederation of Philippine Manufacturers of PPE (CPMP) executive director Rosette Carrillo: From the drafting of terms of reference to the issuance of a purchase request, there's no emphasis of the PPE's importance as a medical device

CPMP: Without the Pandemic Protection Act, local exporters will be simply no match to traders who merely repack substandard PPEs

CPMP: The proposed law's key policies on "buy Filipino," stockpiling, long-term sustainability of local medical-grade PPE production will ensure national health security

CPMP: Even if most of our members have stopped manufacturing PPE, we haven't lost of our vision to manufacture medical-grade PPE for every health worker

CPMP: As early as first quarter, naramdaman na ng mga exporters that maraming cancelled orders. So yung idea of repurposed factories was also to support the retention of jobs.

Sen. Gordon: We can build dolomite beaches but we don't wanna put money into investments in strategic enterprises such as this

Sen. Pangilinan: In effect, the DTI asked them [local manufacturers] to repurpose their facilities except that the PS-DBM dilly-dallied and decided to favor foreign importers, traders.

CPMP: Sa surgical mask, on bidding requirements, we observed di ni-require yung pinaka-importanteng specifications in terms of the safety or quality performance...walang nirequire na testing

Sen. Pangilinan to CPMP: Are we saying that in the middle of the pandemic, they loosened stringent requirements? Like you said earlier, agency specification from DOH that were provided to PS-DBM, medyo kulang? (1/3)

CPMP: Our exporters are global players, they're very cognizant of quality and standard. Their decision to produce medical-grade PPE requires them to be aware of standards, all these things. (2/3)

CPMP: The focus was on procurement, not on protection. (3/3)

Answering through an interpreter, Michael Yang says he began doing business in the Philippines around 1999

Yang says he was an agent before: I started as an "ahente"... I was not a big businessman when I came here.

Yang says his business started with ready-to-wear clothes.

Yang: When I came here, I did not bring a lot of money. I was very young then. When Chinese people come here, they usually go around and look what business opportunities there are. I also have friends here.

Sen. Gordon to Yang: You're either stupid or a liar. You don't want to answer anything, you can't remember, you have to call your accountant. (1/2)

Sen. Gordon to Yang: I don't think you're stupid and I don't think you want to lie, you're not gonna get anywhere with us. If you think we can't get anywhere with you, you got another thing coming (2/2)

Sen. Gordon to Yang: Marami nagt-text sa'kin, sabi arogante ka, nang-aasar ka. Ikaw ay isang banyaga sa bansa namin...walang natutuwa sa'yo kaya magpakatino ka.

Yang: I came here to the Philippines, and I really love this country. I am not arrogant. I really don't know what people think of me. I'm just simply doing business here.

Sen. Hontiveros asks Yang how he was appointed as presidential economic adviser

Yang: Maybe he [Duterte] thinks he knows me for so many years, and I'm a Chinese who knows many other Chinese...but I think it is best to ask this to the President

Sen. Hontiveros: I really regret na di niyo mapaunlakan ang tanong ko ng isang klarong sagot. Di naman top secret, matter of national security ang trabaho ng isang economic adviser

Sen. Pangilinan to Yang: Wag na kayo magsinungaling. Please don't lie to this committee. You know Philippine United Technic Corporation. We take offense that you think you can lie and get away with it.

Yang apologizes for yawning after being called out by Sen. Pangilinan, notes he's been sitting in the virtual hearing for 6-7 hours now

Yang on PUTC: I don't know this company per se but I may know the people in it. When they registered the company, they did not inform me

Sen. Pangilinan to Yang: He's not being upfront, he's not telling the whole truth. He's probably telling half-truths before this committee.

Sen. Gordon to Yang: Tuwing tatanungin ka, lumilihis ka, evasive ka. Nakakalungkot, sinayang mo yung trust ng Filipino people sa'yo.

Yang: I am not evasive and not being disrespectful.

Senators ask Yang about his supposed PhD degree from Princeton University, to which he says he got a certificate after attending a program under the institution's branch in Beijing. (1/2)

Sen. Pangilinan: He did not get a PhD. He got a certificate. But he's not sure if it's a PhD or not. (2/2)

Sen. Gordon says they will write to Princeton to confirm whether Yang got a PhD from it or not: Can you imagine someone who says he has a PhD in his website claiming that?

Sen. Gordon asks Yang why President Duterte appointed him as economic adviser. But Yang says he has no idea why he was appointed, but he "felt very honored."

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee suspends the hearing until Nov. 4, 11 a.m.