Pharmally's Mago says she left House custody to be with family

Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation official Krizle Mago said on Friday that she left the protective custody of the House of Representatives to go to the province and be with her family.

At the resumption of the Senate blue ribbon committee investigation into the controversies linked with the purchase of COVID-19 supplies, Senator Franklin Drilon asked Mago's reason that prompted her to be under the custody of the House.

“I was able to compare the environment of the investigation from the HOR and the Senate and that is one of the reason I chose to go sa HOR para makapagbigay ako ng proper statement regarding my previous testimonies po sa Senate,” Mago said.

Asked about the reason why she left the House custody, Mago said she wanted "to be with her family."

“I was under their custody for a month and a half and even if it is a voluntary custody, I still chose to go back with my family. Hiling ko po ang bumalik sa probinsya and be with my family (I want to return to the province and be with my family),” she said.

She left the House custody on November 15.

Mago earlier admitted before the Senate panel that she changed the expiration dates of government purchased face shields.

However, she later retracted her testimony and sought protective custody from the House.  She said her admission that Pharmally “swindled” the government when it tampered with the expiration dates of the face shields delivered to the Department of Health (DOH) was a “pressured response.”

On Friday, Mago said she felt the pressure to respond before the Senate investigation to avoid being cited in contempt for evasive answers.

“Certainly there was pressure for the whole investigation. I did feel po for the investigation and at the same time I was trying not to be evasive and answering questions po kasi (because) there is also a threat of being cited in contempt 'pag naging evasive po ako sa mga questions po ng (if I became evasive in answering questions in the) Senate,” Mago said.

She also admitted that her answers were "inaccurate" due to pressure by lawmakers.

“I do admit po that there was a pressure for me to respond that’s why, well there was a pressure for me to respond directly of course yung (there was) time constraint po to answer the question that is why yung mga naging sagot ko naging (my answers became) inaccurate,” she said. 

The Blue Ribbon committee is looking into the transfer of P42 billion COVID-19 funds from the Department of Health to the Department of Budget's Procurement Service (DBM-PS).

The DBM-PS purchased of P8.6 billion worth of face masks, face shields, and protective personnel equipment from Pharmally, a firm being linked to Chinese businessman Michael Yang.

The company only had a P625,000 paid-up capital when it entered transactions with the government.—LDF/VBL, GMA News