Pharmally execs ask CA to act on plea for release

The legal counsel of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. executives on Tuesday called on the Court of Appeals (CA) to set the officials free, saying they were being “treated worse than convicted criminals.”

Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, representative of the Pharmally executives Linconn Ong and Mohit Dargani, asked the appellate court to act on the petition of his clients, which he said may have been "overlooked" by the court.

The CA has earlier dismissed the petition for habeas corpus of another Pharmally official, Twinkle Dargani, following her release from detention by the Senate on January 11.

“Remember only the three showed up and tried to give their testimony but were forbidden to speak up and give their side of the story. The Senate records will show that they were not even allowed to read their statements prior to the start of the hearings,” Topacio said.

“Even more interesting is that the two remaining Pharmally executives have been treated worse than convicted criminals --- limited to no visitation rights, limited interactions and communications with their lawyers among other things, and they have not been charged with any crime,” he added.

In a two-page resolution signed by Judges Apolinario Bruselas Jr., Filomena Singh, and Bonifacio Pascua on CA-G.R. SP No. 171054, it dismissed the petition of Twinkle Dargani as moot and academic as she has been released from detention.

“When the release of the persons in whose behalf the application for a writ of habeas corpus has been filed is effected, the petition for the issuance of the writ becomes moot and academic,” the CA said.

“Thus, with the release of petitioner Twinkle Dargani from detention, her petition for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus should be dismissed for having become moot and academic,” it added.

The resolution, however, did not mention other petitioners — Ong and Mohit Dargani — who have been detained in Pasay City Jail since November 2021.

The Senate blue ribbon committee ordered Dargani and Ong's transfer to the city jail after they failed to provide the committee the whereabouts of the boxes containing the documents related to the firm’s financial statements.

“The two businessmen and of course Miss Twinkle Dargani were trapped and silenced, and I call on the Court of Appeals to set them free,” Topacio said.

The Senate blue ribbon committee investigated the transfer of P42 billion COVID-19 funds made by the Department of Health to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).

The PS-DBM also had a questionable transaction with Pharmally, which bagged P8.6 billion contracts on COVID-19 equipment despite having a  P625,000 paid-up capital.—LDF, GMA News