News Release

Duque: Pharmally must compensate gov’t if face shield expiry date tampering is true


Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. should compensate the government if it’s true that the company changed the expiration dates of medical-grade face shields it delivered to the Department of Health (DOH), the country’s health chief said on Monday.

In the recent Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, a Pharmally official admitted changing the expiration dates of face shields procured by the government for medical frontliners.

The Pharmally official disclosed that the company changed the 2020 production date making it 2021.

During a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said he instructed the Department of Health’s (DOH) procurement and supply chain office to make an assessment on the production dates of the face shields delivered to the government.

“At kung totoong mayroon pong pandaraya o ito pong ginawa ng Pharmally ay kinakailangan ay bawiin ng gobyerno doon sa kompanyang iyan iyong isang taon na kanila pong tinamper,” Duque said.

“Kasi kung halimbawa 36 months at tinamper ‘yung production date from 2020 to 2021, so may isang taon na daya. So kinakailangan ‘yung isang taon na ‘yun magkaroon ng restitution sa gobyerno iyong halaga nung face shield.”

The health secretary also addressed the expiration issue of the face shields bought by the DOH through the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).

Duque said the medical grade face shield contains foam and garter that may deteriorate over time, noting however, that the product should have a shelf life of about 36 months.

The health chief said the DOH inspection team observes strict guidelines before accepting deliveries and supplies must pass stringent inspection.

“Ganoon din po ang akin pong nakalap na report, ang PS-DBM mayroon din po silang inspection team,” he said.

“Hindi po sila basta-basta puwedeng tumanggap ng mga supplies na hindi po ito sinusuring maigi in terms of quality o ‘yung kalidad, iyon pong quantity, at in accordance with the technical specifications na iyan po ang inuutos ng DOH na dapat sundin ng supplier.” PND