[ad_1]
More Senate and House lawmakers on Sunday criticized an alleged draft administrative order that prohibits private companies, especially those that sell “products of sin,” from importing COVID-19 vaccines for their employees.
In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon voiced alarm at the alleged draft order, saying that prohibiting companies from purchasing vaccines for their employees is clearly “illegal and unauthorized.”
The document in question describes selected parts of the draft Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) for the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act.
“I am deeply concerned about this report. If there is indeed a draft administrative order, that is a clear violation of COVID-19 vaccination. [Program] Act of 2021, “Drilon said.
“This policy is discriminatory and morally unacceptable. DOH does not have the authority to do that.”
According to the supposed draft order, the Department of Health and the National Working Group Against COVID-19 (NTF) will review all requests from private entities to acquire vaccines “to ensure that the private entities that will be part of the agreement are not in any related to the tobacco industry, products covered by the EO 51 series of 1986 or the ‘National Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, Breast-milk Supplements and Other Related Products’ or other products in conflict with public health ”.
This means that this document referred to manufacturers of tobacco, milk, sugar, soft drinks and spirits, as well as multinational companies.
Drilon said it was illegal for DOH and NTF to do that, noting that the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021 allows private entities to purchase vaccines in coordination with DOH.
He added that the alleged order is discriminatory and would go beyond the law, thus constituting an indictable wrong.
“Who is playing God here one more time?” Drilon asked. Please stop playing God. This is not the time for politics and the selfish agenda. It is our moral responsibility to share the vaccine. “
Drilon warned the Secretary of Health, Francisco Duque III, that he would request a Senate investigation if the DOH insisted on the alleged ban on private entities to acquire COVID-19 vaccines.
Legislate by IRR
For his part, Senate President pro tempore Ralph Recto said the DOH and NTF were “legislating for IRRs (implementing rules and regulations)” by allegedly banning some private companies from purchasing COVID-19 vaccines.
“This is IRR legislation, a bad habit of bureaucrats who imagine themselves as the third chamber of Congress,” he said. “There is no such provision in the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021.”
Recto found two questionable phrases in the draft order, the first being that no private entity should be “in any way related” to the tobacco industry and the baby formula business.
“So you can read this that a pharmaceutical company that plans to purchase vaccines, half of which it will donate to the government, cannot do so simply because it has breast milk substitutes in its product catalog,” he said.
Recto was also concerned about the phrase stating that companies dealing in “other products in conflict with public health” were covered by the ban.
Following only this sentence, he pointed out that the San Miguel Corporation, which had been donating billions of pesos to the pandemic fight, could be unable to buy vaccines, along with Emperor Distillers Inc., and the Gokongwei Group of Companies that are involved in the sugary drinks industry.
“What happens to these people at DOH and NTF who will not allow private wealth to be used for the public good?” Straight said.
“If these merchants of sin wanted to reinvest their profits in the form of vaccines, half for their workers and half for the people, why would a clumsy government outlaw such an offer of aid?” I ask.
The solons react
Meanwhile, Bagong Henerasyon’s party list representative Bernadette Herrera-Dy said the alleged draft order would be unfair to companies that only want to protect their employees from COVID-19.
“The implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination program must be free from discrimination,” he said.
“It should be open to all, especially as our common goal is to vaccinate as many Filipinos as possible to protect them from COVID-19 so that we can all return to normal as soon as possible,” he added.
Anakalusugan party list representative Mike Defensor, on the other hand, said the DOH and NTF are virtually “usurping” the power of Congress with the supposed draft order.
“Congress never intended to discriminate against any industry when we passed the law establishing the COVID-19 vaccination program, precisely because we recognize that the government needs the help of the entire private business sector to quickly immunize as many Filipinos as possible. “, He said.
“DOH should not stand in the way of any private corporation that wishes to purchase its own supply of vaccines in order to protect its workers,” he added.
The DOH, in response, said that the content of the TIR for the COVID-19 vaccination law is still being deliberated and that the provisions of the draft order “are not final.”
“DOH emphasizes that the national government is committed to providing all Filipinos equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines by following the prioritization criteria and list approved by the Interagency Task on Emerging Infectious Diseases,” it said in a statement.
“Any provision that may be perceived as discriminatory against any sector of the population to access COVID-19 vaccines is not considered in any policy, guideline, or protocol that this government must issue,” he added. – DVM, GMA News
