SENATORS on Tuesday cited in contempt former presidential adviser and “friend” Michael Yang for twice snubbing summons to appear at ongoing hearings on pandemic fund contracts, but the businessman sought to fend off an arrest warrant as his lawyer wrote Blue Ribbon chairman Sen. Richard J. Gordon, professing a desire to cooperate in the inquiry.
Atty. Raymond Fortun, of the Fortun Santos law firm, wrote Sen. Gordon on Sept. 7, hours after the Blue Ribbon panel moved to have Yang arrested for failing to heed two summons, one sent to his office and another to his Makati City home.
Earlier, senators cited in contempt, also for snubbing summons, five officials of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., the controversial supplier that bagged over P8 billion in contracts to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) to the government despite being newly incorporated with paid-up capital of only P625,000.
Yang is being linked to Pharmally on account of his own company’s ties to the supplier. He also was seen in a 2017 government video as accompanying Pharmally executives to a meeting with President Duterte.
The arrest orders for Yang and the five Pharmally executives are awaiting signature of Senate President Vicente Sotto III at press time.
At Tuesday’s fourth Blue Ribbon hearing, panel members also sought more documents to wrap up issues arising from the Commission on Audit’s 2020 report on the Department of Health’s handling of P62 billion in pandemic response funds.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue was asked to provide the tax records of Pharmally, and BIR agreed to do so in an executive session.