BY PETER TABINGO and RAYMOND AFRICA
PHARMALLY Pharmaceutical Corporation, subject of a Senate probe in relation to overpriced purchases by government, yesterday filed a criminal complaint against Sen. Risa Hontiveros and several other individuals before the Office of the Ombudsman on allegations that the lawmaker has conspired to stoke public sentiment against the Duterte government.
The 15-page complaint affidavit was signed by Jaime Vegas who identified himself as an employee and authorized representative of Pharmally as shown in a secretary’s certificate attached to a document.
It asked the Ombudsman to issue indictments for conspiracy to commit sedition, subordination to perjury, offering false witness, and violation of RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Hontiveros shrugged off the complaint.
“The charge to commit sedition is laughable. Holding public officials accountable is not rising publicly and tumultuously against the government,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“I do not need to resort to unlawful means to point out anomalies in Pharmally’s transactions. The Senate has already exposed many of these information. This is clearly a last-ditch effort by Pharmally and its backers,” she added.
Aside from Hontiveros, also named respondents were lawyer Jaye Bekema, Hontiveros’ driver Ryan Lazo, Pharmally employee Veejay Almira, and other persons tagged only as John and Jane Does.
Pharmally is undergoing investigation by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee for cornering at least P12 billion worth of supply contracts for personal protective equipment from the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) despite having only P625,000 in capital.
However, in its complaint, the company claimed its employee was paid by Hontiveros to testify at the Senate inquiry “to tell lies to the damage and prejudice of Pharmally and its officers and shareholders.”
The complaint said Almira was paid a P35,000 — P20,000 in cash and another P15,000 through GCash, and that Almira accepted the money because he needed it to buy medicine of a sick child.
“The objective of Sen. Hontiveros was to bring the government down by portraying that this government is corrupt and to solicit support from the general public to rise against Duterte Administration,” the complaint said.
Vegas claimed Almira became connected to the senator’s office after he requested medical assistance for which he was required to submit documents including a company ID.
The assistance was sent through GCash but Almira reportedly got an offer for more money if he will take pictures of the Pharmally warehouse, his work place, and products.
Pharmally tagged Hontiveros and Bekema as the ones who persuaded Almira to testify against the company in exchange for the P20,000 in cash.
Curiously, the complaint mentioned Almira by various names: from paragraphs 1 to 16 he was referred to as “Veejay” but from paragraphs 17 to 32, he was mentioned as either “V-Jay” or “Veejay.”
The complaint also contradicted the earlier assertion that the money was for Almira’s sick child but in paragraph 13, it said the money was used by the witness to buy an e-bike.
It asked that Bekema and Lazo be placed under preventive suspension pending completion of the investigation on the criminal aspects.
Hontiveros said he office did not give money to Almira in exchange for testifying against Pharmally. — With Jocelyn Montemayor and Gerard Naval
