Photo Release

When is questioning Pharmally seditious?: Sen. Risa Hontiveros, during Thursday’s virtual hearing of the Blue Ribbon Committee, November 4, 2021, on the 2020 COA report and other issues related to the budget utilization of the Department of Health (DOH), says she is “happy” to confront her accusers who filed sedition charges against her and her staff before the Office of the Ombudsman. Hontiveros was reacting to the charges filed against her and her staff for allegedly bribing a witness to testify against Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. in the committee hearing. The senator said the sedition charges filed against her was an attempt “to create a chilling effect, not just on the work I do, but on our collective work as senators in the exercise of our oversight powers.” Hontiveros asked: “Why is questioning Pharmally seditious? Are they already part of the government? The last I checked, it is an undercapitalized company, getting the lion's share of contracts, and whose executives are now more and more missing in action.” (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)