MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III is ordering his department to re-inspect medical-grade face shields purchased by the government from its largest pandemic supplier, Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., after one of the firm's executives admitted to tampering with their expiration dates.
"I am having [the DOH] review and re-inspect these face shields," Duque said in Filipino in a taped meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte and the country's pandemic task force aired Monday night.
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"And if it's true that there was fraud carried out by Pharmally, then the government must withdraw from the company the one year that it tampered with."
The foam on top of medical-grade face shields has a shelf life of 36 months, Duque explained, which means that if Pharmally charged expiration dates from 2020 to 2021, it would have cheated the government a year of use.
"So, for that one year, there must be restitution to the government for the cost of the face shield," Duque said.
The health secretary made the statement after Duterte asked why plastic face shields have an expiry date.
The practice of tampering with the expiry date of face shields as well as repackaging those with "substandard" quality was confirmed by Pharmally executive Krizle Grace Mago to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee after it was bared by one of the firm's warehouse workers.
Asked if the firm was swindling the government by doing this, Mago replied: "Yes, I believe so."
The Senate panel has been unable to reach her since Friday and has sought help from the National Bureau of Investigation to locate her and ensure her safety. — Bella Perez-Rubio