NBI to investigate officials over secret use of vaccines

MANILA, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Monday it would prosecute government officials behind the illegal importation and use of an unregistered vaccine from China to inoculate Presidential Security Group (PSG) troops against COVID-19.

Health authorities said they were working with the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to impose sanctions on medical workers who shot President Rodrigo Duterte’s bodyguards.

In a television interview Monday, NBI spokesman Ferdinand Lavin said investigators would investigate the green light for the vaccination and ask officials who approved the inoculation if they knew the vaccine was not registered in the Philippines.

The president, who revealed the vaccination in a televised address to the nation on Monday last week, said the injection used was the candidate vaccine developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that he had not yet approved it. the drug.

Questions without answer

The FDA statement quickly raised questions about the origin of the vaccine, how it was introduced into the country, and who authorized its use to inoculate the presidential guards.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the vaccine was donated, but added that he did not know the donor and the circumstances under which the donation was made.

Roque also claimed that it was not illegal to be inoculated with an unregistered vaccine. What is illegal, he said, is the commercial distribution of an unregistered drug.

Despite those comments from the Palace, Lavin said that the NBI would proceed with the investigation and assured that the office would be independent to carry out the investigation.

“We will do our research regardless of comments that have already been made,” Lavin said. “We don’t want to speculate here, but we will do our job again. Wherever the evidence takes us, then we will conclude this investigation with the appropriate recommendation, “he added.

Brig. General Jesús During III, the commander of PSG, said in a television interview last Wednesday that the vaccinations were carried out on his own initiative. He said troops received the first dose in September and the second in October.

During also said that the vaccinations were carried out without the help of medical professionals. “We vaccinate ourselves. It was easy, ”he said.

Fall boys

But Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee investigating wrongdoing involving public officials, said in a radio interview Sunday that he did not believe the PSG chief.

“General During, I don’t believe you. I’m sure he did it out of loyalty, “Gordon said, adding that the presidential guards were” obligated to take responsibility. “

“We must find out who really brought [the vaccine]because that guy should be prosecuted, ”he said.

Health authorities also have doubts about Durante’s claim that the presidential guards were vaccinated.

Undersecretary of Health Maria Rosario Vergeire told reporters Monday that the Department of Health and the FDA were “coordinating with the People’s Republic of China for professionals who are allegedly involved in the administration of the unregistered vaccines.”

Vergeire, however, declined to go into details and said the matter was under investigation.

“This case is under investigation, so we cannot reveal any more information. Even the names of the doctors we cannot reveal here, ”he said.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III warned last week that doctors administering COVID-19 vaccines not approved by the FDA would be stripped of their licenses.

“We will investigate the illegal administration of unauthorized smuggled vaccines, specifically the doctors who administer them. They will revoke their medical licenses, “Duque said in a statement on December 31.” Doctors have an oath: do no harm. “

‘Selling the service’

Duque said there were rumors that lawmakers were meeting in posh hotels, ostensibly for coffee, but then going up to a room to take COVID-19.

“I do not buy the explanation that the doctors who administer the injections are being pressured by the legislators. Someone is selling the service and it is unacceptable, ”he said.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Monday that healthcare workers “who knowingly or intentionally administer an unregistered vaccine can be held liable under the 1959 Medical Practice Act.”

It was Guevarra who had ordered the NBI last week to investigate the unauthorized entry of the Sinopharm vaccine into the country.

On Monday, he said that all laws regulating the use of health products must be “strictly observed.” He stressed that it would be illegal for anyone to import, manufacture, sell and promote the use of drugs, vaccines and other similar products without FDA approval.

“[The FDA law] imposes the penalty of a fine [or imprisonment or both on those who violate] the regulations, ”he said.

But Guevarra practically acquitted PSG, saying that those who volunteered to be inoculated with a vaccine not registered locally had no criminal responsibility under the law.

“Under our current laws, a person who freely and voluntarily vaccinates with an unregistered or unauthorized drug or vaccine will not incur criminal liability unless he himself has caused its illegal acquisition or promotes its use by other people,” he said.

PSG to cooperate

Presidential spokesman Roque said PSG was ready to face the consequences of its actions and would cooperate with investigations because it was not hiding anything.

However, he dismissed questions about the source of the vaccine used by PSG.

“That is not relevant. If they want to reveal it, they will. But the important thing is that they are protecting the president, “Roque said at a press conference.

He said the source of the vaccine was “immaterial.”

“The important thing here is that they risked their lives to protect the president,” he said.

Roque said there must be “mutual respect” on the part of the Senate, as he questioned the investigation planned by the Senate committee as a whole into the government’s vaccination program.

“I don’t understand why the Senate, an equal branch of government, will interfere with the security of the president when the president does not interfere with the security of the Senate,” he said.

Senator Francis Pangilinan rejected the Palace’s position that no laws had been broken because getting vaccinated was a “personal choice” of the presidential guards.

“Whoever performs the illegal acts, as well as whoever gave the orders, must respond,” Pangilinan said in a statement. “No [good intention will justify an unlawful act]. “

He questioned the secret that had accompanied the vaccines.

“This should have happened because it is good news, unless there is an illegal transaction involved,” he said.

Military probe

The Armed Forces of the Philippines were prepared to investigate the PSG vaccines, but the fact that Roque practically cleared the presidential guards caused him to stop.

“He would have to consult the AFP chief of staff if the investigation continues,” said Major General Edgard Arévalo, a military spokesman, after being briefed on Roque’s statements to journalists.

The investigation was scheduled to begin Tuesday. Arevalo said.

General Gilbert Gapay, the warlord, wanted the investigation to establish how the vaccine was acquired and how it was administered to the presidential guards.

–Reports by Cathrine Gonzales, Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Marlon Ramos, Leila B. Salaverria, Melvin Gascon, and Jeannette I. Andrade

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