MANILA, Philippines ? A party-list representative said that the pharmaceutical firm Pfizer also offered to produce promotional posters of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

Citing confidential sources, Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel on Wednesday said this was on top of the five million discount cards it proposed to give the government in exchange for not implementing sections of the law on affordable medicines.

Baraquel said the posters were part of the offer Pfizer had made to the government in a purported attempt to derail the implementation of an order that would forbid its discount card program.

She added that the offer would have constituted graft had the government accepted it, and that Pfizer could be liable not only under Philippine law but also under the United States? Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Speaking at the Fernandina Media Forum at Club Filipino in San Juan City, Baraquel said Akbayan and other groups were planning to write the United States? justice department about possible violations committed by the pharmaceutical company.

She said Pfizer?s actions were such that ?even a letter to the US Department of Justice could trigger an investigation.?

Baraquel said the information came from reliable sources privy to the reported meetings between Pfizer representatives and government officials who said they had rejected the proposal. Pfizer has denied that its offer was an attempt to bribe government.

But the party-list representative said the offer could be considered a form of bribe because it came with ?publicity benefits? for Duque and the President. She described the offer of the posters as a ?promotional and marketing tool.?

Baraquel said the "cheaper medicines" law should no longer be subject to negotiation, and that Arroyo should not accept any condition that would allow pharmaceutical companies to resist complying.