Public warned vs solicitations using FDA

PHOTO from fda.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned the public against unscrupulous individuals making solicitations in behalf of the agency and offering to contribute funds for its annual activities in exchange for the release of authorizations.

In an advisory, the FDA said it did not need to source money from other entities since it has a budget reserved for activities promoting the welfare of its officials and employees, such as strategic planning activities, sports fests, seminars, trainings and gender advocacy and development activities.

“All of these are planned for appropriate budget allocation,” stressed the FDA in Advisory No. 2014-052.

“In no circumstance do official FDA human resource welfare and development activities consider funding through sources other than national government allocations or through the Special Account in the General Fund,” it noted.

With this, the agency advised the public against engaging in any solicitation of funding for the agency made by entities claiming to be from the FDA. It also said the public could always check for official announcements from the agency through its website www.fda.gov.ph.

It also reminded the public that offering to contribute funds for such activities in exchange for the release of accreditation or authorization would be illegal.

“Any offer to contribute funds for team building or other related activities in exchange for the release of authorizations is not standard practice and illegal,” it said.

It advised parties receiving such offers to coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation-Cyber Crime Division to curb the illegal practice through telephone number 523-8231 or email [email protected].

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