House recalls approval of report recommending charges vs Duque, Domingo

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives recalled the approval of the committee report recommending the filing of charges against Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Eric Domingo over their pandemic response.

During Wednesday’s session, Manila 3rd District Rep. John Marvin Nieto moved to reconsider the adoption of the findings and recommendations contained in Committee Report 9313 of the House committee on good government and public accountability.

Nieto’s motion was approved.

Diwa Partylist Rep. Michael Aglipay, who chairs the House committee on good government and public accountability, explained that his panel wants to observe “due process.”

Aglipay said Duque was not able to attend the hearings and thus could not explain his side before the recommendation.

“The resource persons remain such and cannot be respondents unless he was able to attend all hearings and defend himself,” Aglipay said in a Viber message.

“So with this, the committee will conduct further hearings or get the side of Secretary Duque since he was not able to attend those hearings. Then and only then will we be able to get the full picture,” he added.

The committee report recommended the filing of charges against Duque and Domingo over violation of Republic Act No 6713 or the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.”

The committee also recommended the filing of charges against Duque, Domingo, and FDA’s Center for Drug Regulation and Research Director Joyce Cirunay for violation of the “Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007”.

The recommendation came following the committee’s inquiry on the policies and guidelines of the Department of Health (DOH) and FDA for the registration, utilization, manufacture, distribution, or sale of drug products for COVID-19, particularly policies and guidelines that appear to be “detrimental” to the public interest.

The committee, in its report, said the resolution that pushed for the inquiry cited “issuances of the DOH and FDA as having been questioned for being arbitrary, bureaucratic, and inhumane for causing unnecessary delays in the approval and clearance of drugs and therapeutics for emergency use authorization or use of drugs under a compassionate special permit for COVID-19.”

READ: House panel recommends charges vs Duque, Domingo over COVID response

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