Sandigan OKs graft trial of PS-DBM, Pharmally execs

MANILA, Philippines —  The Sandiganbayan has ruled to proceed with the graft trial of former officials of the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) and several executives of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. in connection with the overpriced contract of P54 million for the procurement of surgical masks during the COVID pandemic.

In a resolution promulgated on Sept. 8, the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division denied the motions to quash the case filed by former PS-DBM procurement group director and erstwhile overall deputy ombudsman Warren Lex Liong, former accounting unit head Allan Raul Catalan, former Procurement Division officer-in-charge chief Dickson Panti and procurement management officer III Gerelyn Vergara.

The court also junked similar motions filed by Pharmally director Linconn Ong as well as treasurer and corporate secretary Mohit Dargani.

The Fifth Division said the issue on whether or not the PS-DBM officials and Pharmally executives conspired with one another “is an evidentiary matter best threshed out during a full-blown trial.”

Also named as defendants were former PS-DBM executive director Christopher Lloyd Lao and former supervising administrative officer Arnold James Dupla as well as Pharmally president Twinkle Dargani, directors Huang Tzu Yen and Justine Garado, financial manager Lin Weixiong and employee Krizzle Grace Mago.

The Sandiganbayan set the arraignment on Oct. 2.

The case stemmed from the awarding of a P54-million deal to Pharmally for the supply of 2.– 4 million surgical masks as part of the government’s pandemic response in 2020.