Villanueva challenges Pharmally execs to prove it paid gov’t-mandated contributions
Senator Joel Villanueva challenged officials of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. to present proof it paid mandatory contributions of its employees in 2020, contrary to regulatory reports it submitted to government agencies.
At the resumption of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on Friday, Villanueva confronted Pharmally chief executive Huang Tzu Yen on whether the controversial supplier of personal protective equipment to the government did pay mandated contributions such as SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-Ibig of its seven full-time employees.
“I have documents here stating you have zero payments to government-mandated contributions like SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-ibig. “We want to know whether mandatory contributions such as SSS, Philhealth, and Pag-ibig have been paid,” Villanueva said, requesting the committee to subpoena these documents showing proof of payment by Pharmally of government-mandated contributions.
“We have reason to believe that these mandatory government contributions are not being paid,” continued Villanueva, chair of the Senate labor committee. “Hindi nga nakakalikha ng trabaho, hindi pa nagbabayad ng mandatory contributions.”
Villanueva likewise pointed out that the annual salaries it paid to its full-time employees weren’t enough to pay executives such as a general manager which usually oversees operations of a company.
“We have reason to believe that these mandatory government contributions are not being paid. Hindi nga nakakalikha ng trabaho, hindi pa nagbabayad ng mandatory contributions.”
He said companies with smaller income, such as “mom-and-pop” operations, hire more workers and spend more for payroll.
“Yung may isawan at barbequehan sa kanto, na P50,000 siguro ang kapital, makikita po natin na tatlong tao nagtutulungan. Itong Pharmally, na ‘platinum’ supplier ang turing ng gobyerno, ay mukhang one-man operation lang,” he said. “Mas marami pa yata ang trabahong na nalilikha ng isang kababayan natin na may T-shirt printing business sa bahay."
Villanueva said Pharmally’s payroll-to-sales ratio beats the record of blue chips companies.
He said Pharamally’s lean personnel compensation proves that “it was a middle man, who did not own a single sewing machine and did not buy a single yard of cloth, but profited as a broker.”
He again rued the wasted opportunity to provide local jobs to domestic PPE manufacturers when a “large contract financed by taxpayer’s money was sent overseas.”
He said government agencies with purchasing budgets should also take into consideration the makers and origins of the products they are buying and factor them into their decision for as long as it complies with the law.