House panel backpedals after pushing raps vs DOH, FDA chiefs

FILE PHOTOS Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Undersecretary Eric Domingo.

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives’ committee on good government and public accountability has recommended that charges be brought against Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Eric Domingo over issues in the government’s pandemic response, including their “openly negative view” on ivermectin as a drug to treat COVID-19.

But in a voice vote on Wednesday, the House reconsidered the adoption of the committee’s report calling for the filing of charges. The committee chair, Diwa Rep. Michael Aglipay, said in a statement that it would conduct more hearings “or get the side of Secretary Duque” in order “to get the full picture.”

In its report dated Dec. 16, 2021, but released to the media only on Wednesday, the committee said Duque and Domingo had violated Republic Act No. 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. It also said the two men, along with FDA Center for Drug Regulation and Research (CDRR) Director Joyce Cirunay, had violated RA 9485, or the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, for supposedly failing to “render government services such as approval of applications for automatic renewal within the prescribed time.”

Sought for comment by phone, Duque said: “I’m really surprised. I was not invited to any of their hearings. What I know was those were hearings with the FDA, which has its own head and officials.”

Duque said he had “no idea” why he was among those recommended to be charged. He said government officials should just “help one another” in fighting the coronavirus.

Domingo, on the other hand, said all applications for COVID-19 drugs had been “evaluated properly and approved in a timely manner based on scientific evidence of quality, safety and efficacy.” He quit his post effective Jan. 3.

Aglipay confirmed that Duque was not able to attend the hearings on the matter. He said the House had “always followed the rule of law” and would observe “due process.”

House inquiry

In April 2021, the committee on good government and public accountability looked into the government’s pandemic response, particularly the perceived delay in the approval of new drug applications.

House Resolution 1711 was earlier filed by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera calling for an inquiry into the policies and guidelines for the registration, utilization, manufacture, distribution and sale of COVID-19 treatment drugs that “appear to be detrimental to public interest.”

At the hearing on April 22, representatives of pharmaceutical groups claimed that the difficulty in registering drugs had prompted some companies to move their manufacturing plants to Thailand and Vietnam.

The lawmakers questioned the delay in the approval, and lack of supply, of drugs used to treat COVID-19, including the controversial ivermectin.

Domingo pointed out that the FDA had allowed the compassionate use of ivermectin in some hospitals.

Duque snubbed two consecutive hearings and sent representatives in his place.

In May, the committee warned Duque that he would be cited for contempt if he continued to skip the inquiry.

Arbitrary, bureaucratic, etc.

In its resolution, the committee said “issuances” of the Department of Health (DOH) and FDA had 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 for use of drugs under compassionate special permit for COVID-19.”

It questioned the contradictory statements, including the “openly negative view” of the DOH and the FDA, over the use of ivermectin as treatment for COVID-19.

“With respect to its policy recommendations, the DOH is inconsistent in its subscription to WHO (World Health Organization) recommendations, such as when it adopted the WHO guidance against the use of ivermectin but approved the use of remdesivir, which the WHO advises against,” the committee said.

It said the DOH had failed to explain the basis for such inconsistency.

The committee also cited the “seeming bias” of the DOH and the FDA for particular professionals like the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Inc.

It backed the advice of medical experts to implement structural reform in the DOH and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and to empower the former by “equipping it with people with relevant competence and skills that are at par with those possessed by experts in the medical profession.”

The committee has submitted copies of its resolution to the DOH, FDA, DOST, the justice and budget departments, and the Office of the Ombudsman.

‘Patently unfair’

But Duque said the committee’s recommendation was “patently unfair” because he was “never called to participate in any of the hearings.”

“As a secretary of health, I’m not included in the FDA operations,” he said.

In Baguio, where he launched the city’s first pharmacy vaccination outlet, Duque said in reaction to the committee resolution: “Our enemy is COVID-19.”

He said he had been heeding the recommendations of experts in the government and the academe, such as the University of the Philippines, which were the basis for the DOH’s pandemic response program.

“These are experts in microbiology, vaccinology, immunology. We have to depend on their expertise. If that is an offense, I would like to see the laws which say it violates statutes to listen to experts,” Duque told reporters.

He said the DOH and other agencies had actually been criticized for not listening to more medical specialists. —With a report from Inquirer Research