Congress questions DOH’s ‘discriminatory’ proposal

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers have assailed the plan of the Department of Health (DOH) to bar infant milk manufacturers, tobacco firms and other industries “in conflict with public health” from procuring COVID-19 vaccines.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. also hit the plan on Twitter. Under the present set-up, all COVID-19 vaccines procurement by private companies must go through or be cleared by the national government through a tripartite agreement with the manufacturer.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he found the draft directive being circulated among the members of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and the National Task Force for the COVID-19 as discriminatory.

“The people need all the help they can get and they are preventing it,” Sotto said.

House Deputy minority leader Stella Quimbo and public accounts committee vice chair Ron Salo also questioned the DOH proposal.

Locsin even called the DOH proposal an “extermination campaign.”

“It is one thing to discourage smoking or lactose intolerance, and quite another to destroy the livelihood and the lives of people who depend on the tobacco, milk, sugar and soda companies which pay more taxes than the directors of PhilHealth have stolen,” Locsin said.

“And yet the village idiot is preparing another an Administrative Order prohibiting these companies from procuring and donating vaccines to their employees and to the government. In short, an extermination campaign. Wow, you’d think they were Nazis but they’re short, stupid and ugly,” he said.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan said he was wondering why the DOH wanted to prevent such companies from procuring vaccines on the basis of the nature of their businesses. “COVID does not choose who to infect and preventing selected entities from accessing vaccines compromises the overall effort,” Pangilinan added.

Discriminatory

Sen. Nancy Binay said the DOH proposal was discriminatory. “People working in milk, cigarette, alcohol companies can’t avail of vaccines. Why is there a part of the population that can’t avail of vaccines? This is outright discrimination. It’s like the government is telling them ‘if you get COVID that’s your karma’,” she said.

“This is onerous,” Sen. Imee Marcos said of the DOH proposal. “This proposed policy is too much. Why are they blocking the importation (of vaccines) while they will donate half of the amount they will import? In the private sector, will we just let their employees get infected? All involved in dairy, tobacco, all sugar if you belong to any part of the Negros, Iloilo and Panay. It is forbidden for these companies to get vaccines,” Marcos said in an interview over dwIZ.

Marcos, who chairs the Senate committee on economic affairs, explained that the administrative order would not only slow down the vaccination of the targeted 70 percent of Filipinos this year but also diminish the government’s ability to generate much-needed revenue to fund its national vaccination program.

“We are about to see a total wipeout of the 50-percent donation of vaccines by these large companies, donations which are stipulated in each tripartite agreement among private entities, vaccine manufacturers and the government,” Marcos said.

“These companies are the biggest contributors to the government coffers through excise taxes. How ironic that this administrative order was conceived amid a shocking spike in COVID-19 cases and just weeks away from the tax payment deadline in April,” Marcos added.

“Precluding tobacco companies from participating in the program also means denying their employees the chance to be inoculated sooner rather than later. Herd immunity requires a minimum number of inoculated individuals, regardless of industry affiliation,” Quimbo said in a statement.

“Prioritization must be based on risk assessment rather than industry affiliation. I urge the DOH to review their proposed policies on vaccine procurement,” she said.

Crucial role

The Marikina congresswoman stressed that the role of the private sector is crucial in the government’s vaccination program, adding that the P72.5-billion funding under the 2021 national budget and P10 billion under Bayanihan 2 will not suffice to inoculate 70 million Filipinos, the number needed to achieve herd immunity.

“In many countries, the State takes primary responsibility for the financing and implementation of the COVID vaccination program. We are fortunate that we have a pro-active private sector that has expressed willingness to co-finance the vaccine program and will in effect protect as many Filipinos as possible,” the economist-lawmaker explained.

“The proposed policy of preventing companies that are deemed to be engaged in activities that are contrary to public health reflects a misappreciation by its proponents of the public health mandate of the DOH during a pandemic. It should not preclude milk companies based on its interpretation of Executive Order 51, and neither should it discriminate against the tobacco companies and their employees in particular based on a faulty reading of Joint Memorandum Circular 2010-01,” Quimbo argued.

Salo also urged the DOH to reconsider its proposal. The Kabayan party-list congressman said that the proposed order is discriminatory against the people whose livelihood are dependent on these industries.

“What has the industry of workers got to do with their right to get the vaccine? Discouraging our people from smoking or using formula milk or from consuming sugar is understandable, but preventing the people in these industries to have access to the COVID-19 vaccine is unthinkable!” he stressed in a separate statement.

“We don’t discriminate against criminals, drug addicts, drunkards, murderers, rapists, plunderers, corrupt officials and convicted felons to have access to the COVID-19 vaccines. And yet, we discriminate and prevent people to get the vaccine simply because they belong to an industry which certain health officials consider to be promoting unhealthy lifestyle,” Salo pointed out.

The lawmakers issued the strong statements after receiving a leaked copy of the DOH proposal, which states that the department “shall ensure that tobacco, formula milk and other industries in conflict with the interest of public health will not be part of this endeavor.”  – Edu Punay, Cecille Suerte Felipe