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(FILE PHOTO) Senator Leila de Lima visits the Investigator’s office in Makati in a file photo taken in 2016. INVESTIGATOR’S FILE PHOTO / KIMBERLY DELA CRUZ
MANILA, Philippines – Senator Leila de Lima introduced a resolution requesting an investigation into the reported early inoculation of Cabinet members, the Presidential Security Group (PSG), and senior officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) using unrecorded COVID and smuggled. 19 vaccines.
According to Senate Resolution No. 603 presented on January 5, De Lima pointed out several questions that must be answered in relation to the early inoculation of some members of the Cabinet, PSG officials and AFP.
“You have to find out who smuggled the vaccine and who distributed it to those public officials and how they could do it outside of government regulations,” De Lima said in the resolution.
“Those who have been vaccinated are senior officials of our country who are essential for the functioning of our democracy. As such, vaccinating them with unregistered and unapproved vaccines constitutes a danger not only to themselves but also to our national security, ”added the senator.
Furthermore, De Lima said that it is also necessary to know the intention of the person or persons who distributed the unregistered vaccines to officials, “and, if possible, determine if they are enemies of the State.”
The senator said that while officials may have good intentions to receive unregistered vaccines, “the truth is that the laws were still violated and our country was in danger by receiving this illegal inoculation without knowing its content.”
De Lima also said that withholding information on the matter during any investigation only serves to protect criminals who smuggled illegal vaccines into our country.
“Officials thus inoculated must reveal all the information they have on unregistered vaccines, if only to protect our country from forces that seek to influence the maximum charge of our land to the detriment of our people,” said De Lima.
In late December 2020, it was revealed that some Cabinet members, as well as PSG, have been vaccinated against COVID-19. The Secretary of the Interior and Local Government, Eduardo Año, later clarified that only one member of the Cabinet was inoculated with the vaccine.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon previously said PSG chief Brig. General Jesús During III, should be cited at the Senate hearing on the COVID-19 vaccine on January 11 to explain the controversial early inoculation among the presidential guards.
But in his weekly briefing on January 4, President Rodrigo Duterte warned Congress against “tinkering” with the PSG issue. The president also warned lawmakers against citing PSG staff in contempt for ignoring the investigation.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III has said that the January 11 upper house investigation will only focus on the national government’s COVID-19 vaccination program.
Any other off-topic issues, including the PSG controversy, can be addressed in a separate hearing, Sotto said.
JPV
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