Raffy Tulfo asks DOH to sack FDA chief

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Raffy Tulfo has challenged Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Ted Herbosa to fulfill his promise of removing Food and Drug Administration (FDA) director general Paolo Teston from his post.

Tulfo made the remark after his office successfully forced major online shopping platforms to take down hundreds of dangerous products that the FDA had failed to remove for months.

During last month’s budget hearing, Herbosa promised Tulfo that he would sack Teston if the senator could prove that the flagged products could be taken down from online shops.

In a privilege speech on Monday, Tulfo said his office achieved in just seven working days what the FDA could not: the takedown of 700 dangerous products from the market as of Dec. 9.

These include 373 product listings from Lazada, 189 from Shopee and 138 from TikTok Shop.

Tulfo said it took only two of his staff members to send letters and follow up with the online platforms to get the results.

Tulfo criticized the FDA for merely issuing “public health warning advisories” without ensuring that the unregistered and dangerous products are taken off the shelves.

He said the agency needs a leader with a “stern hand.”

“There is a need to cleanse the ranks of FDA,” Tulfo said. “It should be someone who could pull out the bad weeds in FDA. Because clearly there are bad weeds – inutile, lazy or corrupt.”

Tulfo first called out the FDA on Oct. 1, asking why unregistered health products remained available on social media and e-commerce sites.

Tulfo also urged Teston to step down “if he still had any sense of shame left.”