Tampering with a product’s expiration date violates the Consumer Act of the Philippines, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Tuesday, amid the controversy involving Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation.
Guevarra cited Article 40(a) of the law, which prohibits “the manufacture, importation, exportation, sale, offering for sale, distribution or transfer of any food, drug, device or cosmetic that is adulterated or mislabeled.”
A person found guilty of this provision could be penalized with either imprisonment or fine, or both.
Last Friday, Pharmally official Krizle Mago admitted before a Senate inquiry into the government’s pandemic response purchases that they tampered with the expiration dates of the medical-grade face shields delivered by the firm to the Department of Health (DOH). She said that they were ordered to do so by Pharmally executive Mohit Dargani. He has denied the allegation.
On Monday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Pharmally should compensate the government if it could be established that the company changed the expiration dates of face shields.
Guevarra said the Department of Justice (DOJ) would look into the matter if there was a complaint.
“If the complaint is criminal in nature, it’s the DOJ that will conduct the preliminary investigation. It cannot be the complainant at the same time,” he said in a message to reporters.
When told that the DOJ previously ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe other pandemic-related issues such as the alleged hoarding of medical supplies and sale of COVID-19 vaccination slots, Guevarra replied, “It all depends on the amount of evidence in any given case.”
“If the evidence appears enough, the complainant may file directly with the prosecutor’s office. If there is need for a case build-up, further investigation by the NBI may be called for, and the NBI itself may eventually be the complainant,” he said. — BM, GMA News
Guevarra: Tampering with product s expiry date violates the law
Source: Pinoy Hub News
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