Senators on Tuesday scolded Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. official Krizle Mago for recanting her earlier statement that her firm might have "swindled" the government.
Mago appeared during the continuation of the Senate blue ribbon inquiry on the government's COVID-19 supply deals after skipping the previous hearing.
She went "out of reach" for a few days after making bombshell testimonies at the chamber and is now under the protective custody of the House of Representatives, where she claimed to have been pressured into making such claims while at the Senate.
"Pinalitan niya na, sinabi niya, mahirap nang bawiin yan, Ms. Mago. I'm sorry, Paulinian ka pa naman, bakit nagkaganyan ka?"Sen. Richard Gordon told Mago.
"Niloko mo pa kami na makikipagkita ka kunyari, pagkatapos sabi mo haharap ka dahil you were safe, nagpapasalamat ka sa amin na nag-alala kami. Yun pala, diyan ka rin naman pala babagsak sa kampon ng Pharmally at ng iba pang kampon," he added.
Despite this, Gordon said he would still pray for Mago and hoped for her safety while under House custody.
During her testimony before the House, Mago said she was only pressured to claim that Pharmally might have swindled the government after she admitted to the tampering of the expiration dates of the face shields that they delivered to the government.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, however, presented a video which showed that Mago seemingly composed when she admitted in an earlier Senate hearing that Pharmally corporate treasurer and secretary Mohit Dargani instructed her to have the expiration dates changed.
Dargani has since denied making such instruction.
"You be the judge, Mr. Chairman, if that was a pressured response and if she was bullied by this representation when she admitted that Mr. Mohit Dargani gave her the instructions to have the stickers changed," Lacson said.
Apart from retracting her statement on swindling the government, Mago also backtracked and now denied the claim of the warehouseman in the video presented by Sen. Risa Hontiveros that Pharmally supplied to the government "soiled and substandard" face shields intended for doctors and health care workers.
Reportr is now on Quento. Download the app or visit the Quento website for more articles and videos from Reportr and your favorite websites.
