By Rjay Zuriaga Castor
 |
| Senator Risa Hontiveros (PHOTO: ABS-CBN News) |
MANILA – Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday took a swipe
at inoculation against COVID-19 of Presidential Security Group (PSG) members–
government officials, presidential guards and soldiers, with a vaccine from
China which have not yet been granted regulatory approval.
"Government officials are never above the law. A COVID
vaccine sourced from the black market is intolerable. It is illegal, unethical,
costly to public health. Even worse, mukhang sanctioned & initiated ito by
high ranking officials," Hontiveros said in a tweet.
"Siguraduhin ng AFP na may mananagot," she added.
Malacañang, however, insists that the vaccines from
Sinopharm were given for free even though no one in the administration is able
to identify who exactly who they were from or how they entered the country.
Hontiveros further slammed the administering of the
unregulated vaccines as "another supposed whiff of corruption,"
saying that it blatantly disregard transparency to the public.
"Dapat mag-submit agad ng transparency report ang NTF
(National Task Force Against COVID-19). Hindi katanggap-tanggap na hindi alam
ng publiko kung ano na ang nangyayari sa vaccination plan at sa bilyon-bilyong
piso nilang gagamitin para sa vaccine procurement," the senior said.
In addition to this, regardless of whether the vaccines were
gifted as the administration claims, Republic Act 9711, or FDA ACT of 2009,
prohibits the entry of unregistered drugs into the Philippines: "The
manufacture, importation, exportation, sale, offering for sale, distribution,
transfer, non-consumer use, promotion, advertisement, or sponsorship of any
health product which, although requiring registration, is not registered with
the FDA pursuant to this Act [ is prohibited]."
READ TWEET HERE: https://twitter.com/risahontiveros/status/1344159533791236096?s=19