SENATOR DICK GORDON'S STATEMENT ON THE ARREST AND DETENTION OF PHARMALLY EXECUTIVES MOHIT AND TWINKLE DARGANI

Once again, it is very obvious that Pharmally executives Mohit and Twinkle Dargani were trying to abscond from any liabilities in the alleged anomalous deals they entered with the government in the procurement of COVID-19 medical supplies.

In the past few weeks, the Senate has been scouring possible hideouts of the Darganis after they were cited in contempt and ordered to be arrested for refusing to submit documents the Senate needed in its investigation.

We recalled that Mojit Dargani had two passports - one from Philippines and one from another country as he has admitted during our public hearing. We knew they were hatching their grand escape via the back door.

Yesterday afternoon at around 5PM, acting on a tip we received from concerned citizens, they were apprehended by a team of the Senate Sergeant-at-arms when they were about to flee via an executive privately chartered flight to Malaysia.

It is, however, not surprising that they sought sanctuary in the President's home town of Davao and plotted to execute their grand escape from there. Indeed, they chartered a private plane and were leaving via Davao where they figured they could be safe and make law enforcement officers pause or hesitate to arrest them.

Flight, especially on an expensive international chartered jet, is truly a clear sign of guilt. Evasion has always been the strategy of the guilty. This should also apply to former PS-DBM Undersecretary Lao who has also been evading arrest.

We thank Senate President Vicente Sotto III who called me last night and made arrangements for a private plane to take the Dargani siblings back to Manila. We also commend Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Rene Samonte and his men for doing their job well in protecting the Senate's enforcement of its rules.

But our task is not yet complete. The Darganis will be detained at the Senate until they tell the Filipino people the whole truth. We hope they will be more forthright in answering our questions in the next hearing on Nov. 26.