Opinion: The Disease of Incompetence

1/22/2021 12:15:00 PM Media Center 0 Comments

Another issue involving illegal vaccinations came to light earlier this year after the PSG revealed that they were some of the very first people who were vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine. They argued that the use of vaccines was necessary for their duty to protect the president. Sen. Bato Dela Rosa defended their actions by thanking the PSG for becoming "guinea pigs" for the smuggled vaccine, thus further proving that this put their lives at risk.

In spite of these attempts by the government to justify and romanticize their actions, it is still very evident that the numerous attempts of the importation of COVID-19 vaccines have failed to follow certain procedures in accordance with the law. Therefore, these actions are deemed illegal. And if their reasons for using the vaccines were to perform their duties and serve the president, then why was there a need to smuggle these vaccines?

There are certain rules and regulations that the government must follow when it comes to accepting vaccines. Here are some of the rules that were violated by the PSG and the Chinese POGO workers. 

First is the "Drug and Cosmetic Act”, as amended by Executive Order No. 175, s. 1987, and Republic Act No. 9711, otherwise known as the “Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009”. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was created to establish and maintain a drug regulatory system to ensure the purity, safety, efficacy, and quality of drugs and vaccines in the country. Section 21 of Republic Act No. 3720, as amended, provides that any new drug should have an authorization from the FDA based on an application containing full reports of investigations to show whether or not such drug is safe, efficacious, and of good quality for use based on clinical studies, prior to manufacture, sale, importation, exportation, distribution, or transfer thereof. But the PSG didn’t even bother asking the FDA for authorization on the vaccine that they used, which directly violates Republic Act No. 3720.

The second law that was violated is Section 406 of Republic Act Number 10863 (The Custom Modernization and Tariff Act). This act states, as a general rule, that “all importations of government for its own use or that of its subordinate branches or its instrumentalities, corporations, agencies, or instrumentalities owned and controlled by the government shall be subject to the duties, taxes, fees, and other charges.”

Based on news reports, this did not seem to be the case after the vaccines were illegally smuggled into the country and were used by the PSG, who blatantly took advantage of being direct subordinates of the president himself as they did not go through the indicated procedures in the previously stated law. 

Where do these actions leave the public whose only demand to the government is the government's transparency regarding issues that involve the health and safety of the country amidst this pandemic? The rest of the Filipinos have continuously been neglected while their leaders, the government continues to cater only to its members and selected groups of individuals, in particular, the Chinese POGOs and members of the PSG. When will the public receive the necessary vaccines essential to save their lives? When will the government truly start protecting the lives of its citizens whom they are responsible for?

The issue of smuggling should be thoroughly investigated and the people responsible for this should be punished accordingly. The government should be sensitive to the people’s plight and be transparent when it comes to the issue of vaccines, especially because the COVID-19 vaccine can save our country from this difficult situation. //by Christine Caparas and Simon Delfinado