By Nora Soriño
ILIGAN City ― One “good” deal deserves another and another. And another And another.
Until the Senate investigates. And thus, the “another” becomes a question mark. And another question mark. And another question mark. Involving a foreign body called Pharmally Pharmaceuticals Corporation.
Headed by Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon of the Blue Ribbon Committee, said corporation bagged practically most of the billions of pesos of the country’s pandemic funds. In the form of masks, shields, and other protective personal equipment during these Covid-19 time.
And the capital of this Pharmally? Only P625,000 per the senators’ findings!
Very “fortunate” this company is. Thanks to the aid of somebody called Michael Yang. Who was former Economic Adviser on Economic Affairs of Digong, senators said.
So the deliveries consisted of batches of billions of pesos of contracts, seven contracts in 2020 amounting to 8.6 billion pesos. Until as of Monday, Sept 13, it went as far as P11 billion. The senators extracted this much info from said corporation headed by one Huang Tzu Yen, president.
Such real “luck” for a small-time foreign company. And what’s more, some officer of this company, it was reported, has some warrant of arrest from Taiwan!
Many times lucky indeed!
To the sadness of the other domestic suppliers here in the Philippines.
Of course, Digong was in his well, “combative” best, I mean worst. There were bad personal descriptions of Gordon, Drilon, and others.
And I thought about here in this city, of some similar but smaller version of these deals. A GH 2 Enterprises with a capital of P16,500 bagging P60 million in rice and other deals during this pandemic. And getting paid in a matter of days. Just like Pharmally!
That was the trend of my thoughts when lawyer Leo Zaragoza articulated this clearly on air.
To the listening pleasure ― or displeasure ― to everybody who was attuned to that one.
“What’s the difference between tatay Digong’s reactions on that kind of deal? Which I suppose, might be occurring too in other areas in the country? And the reactions of the leaders here on the deals similar to Pharmally?” I asked my friend Fely who came over at the thick of the senators’ investigation Monday.
“Duterte is at his ‘most combative’ and ‘noisiest’ ― while our leaders here are at their ‘quietest’ and ‘silenciest’ mouths!
I felt like laughing but didn’t. For, can we laugh at matters like that? And who cares about grammar these days?
(Email: norasorino2@gmail.com)
