TWO officials of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation were arrested on Sunday in Davao City by members of the Office of the Senate Sgt-At-Arms (OSAA) as they were attempting to flee the country.
Rene Samonte, Senate sergeant-at-arms, said they received information that Twinkle Dargani, Pharmally presiden;, and her brother Mohit, the company secretary/treasurer; were on already on board a chartered private plane that came from Singapore and was on its way to Kuala Lumpur when OSSA members intercepted them at around 5 p.m. Sunday.
Samonte said the Dargani siblings peacefully surrendered but Mohit created a commotion as he ran back towards the plane apparently to escape.
“It was a short chase at nahabol naman agad (and my men caught up with him). He was warned that if he will do that again, he will be handcuffed. From there OK na and smooth,” Samonte said in a message to the media.
On the permission of Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Samonte said he ordered the Darganis brought back to Manila via a private plane and detained at the Senate building in Pasay City.
Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Blue Ribbon committee which is investigating the alleged irregular contracts of government with Pharmally, said it was not surprising why the Darganis chose Davao City as exit point, “where they figured they could be safe and make law enforcement officers pause or hesitate to arrest them.”
He ordered the Senate Blue Ribbon committee to send a letter to Globan Aviation Corporation, the operator of the private plane, and ask it to submit to the committee all documents in relation to the attempted flight of the Darganis.
“Flight, especially on an expensive international chartered jet, is truly clear sign of guilt.
Evasion has always been the strategy of the guilty. This should also apply to former PS-DBM Undersecretary (Lloyd Christopher) Lao who has also been evading arrest,” Gordon said.
Samonte said his men have earlier scoured the known addresses of Lao in Metro Manila, Cebu City, and Davao City but he was nowhere to be found. He, however, said Lao has not yet left the country.
The Dargani siblings were cited in contempt and ordered arrested by Gordon last month for their refusal to submit to the panel the company’s financial documents subpoenaed by the panel. The two then went into hiding.
Gordon said it was obvious that the Darganis “were trying to abscond from any liabilities in the alleged anomalous deals they entered with the government” in the purchase of pandemic medical supplies.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the arrest of the Dargani siblings only shows that “there is no such thing as safe haven — not even Davao City.
“If the Darganis thought Davao City is a safe haven just like (former presidential economic adviser) Michael Yang and Christopher Lao, they should think again. There is no such thing as a safe haven,” Lacson said.
“They should stop thinking na hindi sila magagalaw doon (that they are untouchables there [in Davao City]),” he added.
The Senate Blue Ribbon committee early this month cited former PS-DBM head Lloyd Christopher Lao in contempt for his failure to attend the hearing for the fourth time.
Records from Gordon’s office showed Lao was a no-show at the Senate hearing on October 5, 19, and 28, and November 4.
The committee will conduct its 15th hearing on the Pharmally issue on November 26.
