Pharmally executive Linconn Ong backs out of speaking with executive session of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

"Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp director Linconn Ong on Monday backed out of the executive session or closed door meeting with senators in connection with the government procurement of COVID-19 medical supplies from his company."

Ong declined the panel’s offer to disclose all his knowledge on Pharmally’s transactions with the government in an executive session. 

Ong indicated in the hearing on September 24, 2021 that he would consider the offer of testifying in executive session.

It’s on the record during last Friday’s hearing that Ong asked for an executive session.

Now he submits a handwritten letter indicating his change of mind.

Grabe... Di man lang official letter.  Ano yan? Pinunit lang sa planner? May budget for luxury cars, walang pambili Ng kahit man Lang bond paper?

Reflects the respect they have for our judicial process. 

Earlier, it was Ping lacson who divulged that Linconn Ong is willing to speak before an executive session..

Is the withdrawal has something to do with the disappearance of Krizelle Mago? He got scared?

Davao boys on the move?

Atty Ferdinand Topacio, now counsel of Pharmally exec Linconn Ong is now looking at dissuading his client to participate in Senate hearings: Because this is not a fair forum. This is a Kangaroo forum...Some members of the blue ribbon committee are not out to get the truth.

Senate President Tito Sotto shrugs off the threat of Topacio that they will file charges against the senators who are probing the Pharmally deal. Topacio should read the journal of the committee before issuing threats, says Sotto.

Sotto lashed out at Topacio for calling the chamber a "kangaroo court". "Never threaten or call the Senate names! What do they expect by threatening the Senate? That we roll over and die? Will never happen!"

Topacio says "We will leave no legal remedies unavailed of, in order to protect the rights of my client. Ang Senado is not above the law. It is not immune to legal processes. It is not immune to criminal cases.The senators themselves have no immunity in case."

Senate Minority Leader Frank Drilon on the threat of Linconn Ong's counsel that they will sue the senators for supposedly violating his client's basic rights: He (Atty Ferdinand Topacio) can do his worst. I will do my best to seek the truth in the proceedings.

Kapag si mismong head honcho ba naman ang backer...

At the back of Linconn Ong, there is the BIGGEST fish to catch!! The mastermind of all CORRUPTor during this pandemic. The blood sucker of the life blood of all FILIPINOS dying of Covid. Sino pa ba? Kailangan pa bang i-memorize yarn? Alam na!

"A truth can walk naked, but a lie always needs to be dressed"

The Crocs in Congress defending those involved in the Pharmally scam

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

These crocs in Congress are evil allies of the Duterte administration. They intentionally refuse to see the wrong just to protect Duterte and his minions.

We are grateful to the Senate for their courage to do a real investigation unlike this moro moro in Congress.

Nakakahiya itong mga supposedly representatives for trying to insult the intelligence of the Filipino people.

"Rep. Aglipay is shooting himself in the foot here. This is what you become if you keep on defending the indefensible, if you keep on peddling lies in the name of political convenience. Mawalang galang na po sir, pero sa katatanggol nyo sa tiwali, nalulubog kayo sa pusali. Keep in mind that power is not forever. 

Himayin natin yung logic ng assumption nya ha.

Aglipay: "If face shield were expired, did anyone die?"

For context: Umamin na kasi ang Pharmally na pinalitan nila ang expiration dates ng mga faceshield na sinupply sa gobyerno at ipapagamit sa mga health care workers. Kaya hirit ni DIWA Partylist Rep. Aglipay, "wala namang namatay."

Maling mali ang lohika nito. Kayo halimbawa ang turukan ng expired na bakuna, pero hindi kayo namatay, walang problema? The fact na inilapit kayo sa potensyal na kapahamakan, it is already a crime, namatay ka man  o hindi. Nasaktan ka man o hindi. Hindi na nga dapat pinagtatalunan yan eh. And don't tell me na flawed ang analogy ko dahil magkaiba ang levels of risk ng bakuna at faceshield, because the same logic applies. Mandato ng gobyerno na ibigay ang pinakamahusay at pinakaligtas na medical equipment para sa ating mga frontliner na isinusubo ang buhay sa ngalan ng propesyon. Kung ang PNP kaya ang bigyan ng mga baril na nagmamalfunction sa gitna ng putukan? Would Aglipay also argue na "eh ano kung supot ang mga baril, may namatay ba?"

Balik tayo sa expired na face shields. So what now? Magpasalamat pa ba dapat ang mga health care workers dahil hindi nila kinamatay ang mga expired na faceshield? Trabaho ng mga kongresista na kumatawan sa interes ng publiko at hindi ang mag-abugado sa mga pribadong kumpanya na sinungaling at magnanakaw!

Wala bang namatay?

Heto ang totoong nakamamatay:

Government's neglect. Culture of impunity. Institutionalized corruption. Blind loyalty."

Ex-DOH Chiefs to Senate: Junk Vape Bill

 

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

The bill is a ‘huge step back’ for public health, say former health secretaries

 

Seven former health secretaries joined calls of medical professionals for the Senate to junk the Vape Bill, which seeks to roll back regulations on the sale, manufacture, and marketing of vapes and e-cigarettes in the country. 

 

“The Vape Bill is a huge step back in protecting Filipinos’ health. It is a danger, especially in a pandemic,” according to former health secretaries Dr. Alfredo Bengzon, Dr. Esperanza Cabral, Dr. Manuel Dayrit, Dr. Enrique Ona, Dr. Carmencita Reodica, Dr. Paulyn Ubial, and Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan. “We call on the Senate to junk this bill in its current form,” the former secretaries added.

 

Vapes and e-cigarettes are common names for electronic nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems (ENDS/ENNDS) and heated tobacco products (HTPs), which are covered by Vape Bill or the proposed Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation Act (SBN 2239), authored by Sen. Ralph Recto.

 

The former health secretaries noted that the Vape Bill relaxes the provisions of RA 11467, an existing law that strictly regulates the said products. The bill lowers the age of access to vapes and e-cigarettes from 21 to 18, and transfers regulatory jurisdiction from the Food and Drug Administration to the Department of Trade and Industry. The bill also reverses a ban on flavors (except menthol and tobacco) and allows sales online.

 

“By lowering the age of access from 21 to 18, the Vape Bill exposes more of our youth, those who are still in senior high or about to enter college, to HTPs and e-cigarettes,” said Galvez-Tan. “Why are we exposing them to this risk when under our laws, we are already protecting them?” he asked.

 

“Our senators should listen to our health experts at this crucial time. The medical community already explained that nicotine exposure at a young age impairs maximum development of the brain, making the youth vulnerable to engaging in harmful habits that are hard to break,” Reodica added. 

 

Meanwhile, Ubial said that “data on the use of vapes and e-cigarettes among the youth show that we should be strengthening, and not relaxing our policies on these products.”

 

Ubial cited the results of the 2019 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), which show that 1 in 7 Filipino students aged 13 to 15 use e-cigarettes. The GYTS also shows that 1 in 8 Filipino students aged 13 to 15 currently use tobacco products.

 

“If our Senators pass this Vape Bill, it shows that they are gambling with the lives of our youth and children, and would rather prioritize the interests of the vape and tobacco industry rather than the health of our people during a pandemic,” Ubial said.

 

Dayrit also hit the bill’s reversal of the ban on flavors. “Allowing more flavors for these harmful products does not make sense,” he said. “There are around 16,000 vape and e-cigarette flavors on the market right now, and we know children and youth are more attracted to flavors,” he said. ““Regulations should aim to make these harmful products less appealing, not more enticing.”

 

Bengzon added: “If the industry is sincere in promoting these products as supposed ‘cessation tools’ for smoking, then why do the provisions of the Vape Bill treat these products as normal consumer products? Why not treat these the same way as other cessation tools, treated as medical and pharmaceutical products  under the jurisdiction of the FDA?”

 

“The best way to curb smoking is still to quit, not shift,” said Ona. Echoing the calls of medical groups, Ona stressed that smokers should not replace one addiction with another addiction, especially in the context of COVID-19. “Let’s not forget that the first case of EVALI (e-cigarette and vape associated lung injury) was already reported in the Philippines. Passing the Vape Bill will only increase our public health burdens,” he said.

 

“We do not need a harmful Vape Bill to be passed in a pandemic,” added Cabral. “We do not need this Bill. We urge our Senators to junk this Vape Bill and prioritize other far more urgent health measures.”

 

Opposition to the Vape Bill continues to intensify as doctors, health professionals, youth, and law groups continue to make calls to junk the Vape Bill while deliberations are ongoing. Youth organizations and student councils have voiced out strong opposition against the bill, stating that the bill is anti-youth, anti-health, and pro-industry.