Dargani siblings face Blue Ribbon probe

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate Blue Ribbon committee was not able to squeeze much yesterday out of detained siblings Mohit and Twinkle Dargani – executives of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. – at the resumption of its inquiry into the alleged anomalies in the multibillion-peso procurement of COVID-19 supplies by the Duterte administration.

The Darganis appeared for the first time since their arrest last Nov. 14 as they were about to fly out from Davao City and senators were asking them again to provide the source documents of their submitted financial statements but Mohit – who was the one answering the queries – said he would still have to look for them as he believed they were “in boxes” somewhere.

Mohit did, however, disclose one key information to the committee: the name Gary Wong, the person who paid for the chartered private jet from Singapore that was supposed to bring him, Twinkle and their mother to Kuala Lumpur before members of the Senate Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) arrested them just as the plane was awaiting flight clearance.

“We did not do this to escape or hide from the investigation. I was just asserting our rights,” Mohit said in response to questions from Sen. Risa Hontiveros and Sen. Richard Gordon, who chairs the committee.

The Darganis were arrested after the Senate cited them in contempt for refusing to cooperate with senators conducting the inquiry.

Mohit maintained he had already provided the committee with all the documents required of him and other Pharmally executives, except for some of those indicated in a subpoena duces tecum that were not properly addressed to him.

He narrated that he and his sister and mother traveled by car first, going north and southwards to Sorsogon, Surigao and eventually to Davao City on Nov. 1 or 2 where they rented a house, which was also close to a hospital for the medical needs of their mother.

“We were traveling from one place to another place. I just have to do this because I was doing this as a son, for my mother and for my sister who’s fighting mental health (issues),” he said.

He said Twinkle and their mother did not want him to come back to the country from the US where he met with the future in-laws of his sister at the start of the Senate inquiry in August.

“But I came back because they’re my home. They’re my safe place. I needed my safe place,” Mohit said.

Shortly after they reached Davao City, he said his mother decided they should leave the country as she and his sister could no longer bear the stress, adding there was no specific reason why they had chosen  to stay in that city.

Gordon and other senators were incredulous that Wong – who Mohit said he met in a restaurant only a couple of times in Singapore in the past – would advance some $37,000 to charter a jet from Singapore to Davao City based only on promise to pay.

Mohit said they communicated via WhatsApp and “everything was done on the fly.”

“He said I would do the same for him,” Mohit said.

“You just met him in a bar, did you have affairs with this guy? I’m serious,” Gordon asked.

Mohit said he supposed that Wong “knows a lot from my background and knows I can pay him back.”

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Gordon asked Mohit to point to where the boxes of documents are located, but the latter said he was not sure where they are as they have no more company office and staff, and the lease on their house in Makati City has lapsed so he has to physically look for them.

Meanwhile, former presidential adviser Michael Yang skipped the hearing yesterday, citing “pharyngitis” that is suspected to be caused by COVID-19 infection. He had also been advised by his doctor to rest, his lawyer said yesterday.

Yang’s lawyer Raymond Fortun wrote Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Gordon asking that his client be excused from the hearing for at least a week for rest and isolation.

“Mr. Yang has been diagnosed with Nonexudative pharyngitis (ATP-Nonexudative) by Dr. Lim of the Davao Doctors Hospital last Nov. 24, 2021, who could not fully rule out the possibility that Mr. Yang had contracted the COVID-19 virus. His doctor has recommended that he rest for one week in order to aid in his treatment and recovery,” the letter read.

Fortun, however, promised to produce Yang at the next hearing depending on his health condition.

Yang earlier asked the Supreme Court to nullify the arrest orders and subpoenas issued by the Senate against him, saying the directives had no legal basis and the chamber abused its discretion.

He also asked the SC to stop the panel from compelling him to disclose his personal properties and business transactions.