EDITORIAL
Are face shields necessary
and a need in the fight against the Covid-19 virus, or a manufactured necessity
meant to benefit a favored few?
An employee of controversial company Pharmally Pharmaceuticals admitted during a Senate hearing last week her bosses issued an order to repack substandard face shields for the Dept. of Health, and this was tantamount to swindling the government.
The Senate had been investigating the company for cornering billions of pesos worth of pandemic-related deals despite the fact it was only established in 2019 and lacked financial resources and track record to justify the sheer amount of said contracts.
The company’s only worthy asset, it appears, is its connection to powerful decision-makers and protection it enjoys from officials who vowed to stamp out corruption in government.
The face shields were found to be grossly overpriced — bought with taxpayers’ money at P122 apiece. That the company repacked yellowing, wet, old, and even dirty products before turning them over to the government is one of insults foisted upon a people long suffering from the scourge of the virus.
Face masks were also found to have been sourced from Pharmally at overprice, when local suppliers were able to able to provide the same specifications at much lower prices.
After Senate revelations, senators asked the employee, Krizle Mago, if she wanted to be placed under the Senate’s protective custody. She replied she needed time to think things through and would give her answer by the weekend.
Mago was out of reach later, not responding to calls and messages, leaving many to wonder where she was, how she was, what she had decided, and whether she had been taken to task for exposing what she knew.
In the meantime, authorities are keeping everybody in suspense on the next policy regarding face shields in indoor or outdoor settings.
These face shields have become a staple in Filipinos’ daily protection gear even as many other countries do not recognize it, much less require its use. There is an ongoing debate on its efficacy, and revelations are not helping us decide on whether it is truly a need — or just a manufactured necessity meant to benefit and enrich, a favored few.
People are joking these are just “props,” at their expense.
Mago asked for time to “think things through” with regard to submitting herself to Senate custody. Meanwhile, people are at a loss on how much proof is needed to correct things after we have apparently been lied to.
Nowadays, cops holding sticks shoo away people like cattle if they are not wearing face shields. The brazenness of guilty officials and their cohorts has turned to be a case of rubbing more salt to the injury, demeaning people more and adding to their misery.
An employee of controversial company Pharmally Pharmaceuticals admitted during a Senate hearing last week her bosses issued an order to repack substandard face shields for the Dept. of Health, and this was tantamount to swindling the government.
The Senate had been investigating the company for cornering billions of pesos worth of pandemic-related deals despite the fact it was only established in 2019 and lacked financial resources and track record to justify the sheer amount of said contracts.
The company’s only worthy asset, it appears, is its connection to powerful decision-makers and protection it enjoys from officials who vowed to stamp out corruption in government.
The face shields were found to be grossly overpriced — bought with taxpayers’ money at P122 apiece. That the company repacked yellowing, wet, old, and even dirty products before turning them over to the government is one of insults foisted upon a people long suffering from the scourge of the virus.
Face masks were also found to have been sourced from Pharmally at overprice, when local suppliers were able to able to provide the same specifications at much lower prices.
After Senate revelations, senators asked the employee, Krizle Mago, if she wanted to be placed under the Senate’s protective custody. She replied she needed time to think things through and would give her answer by the weekend.
Mago was out of reach later, not responding to calls and messages, leaving many to wonder where she was, how she was, what she had decided, and whether she had been taken to task for exposing what she knew.
In the meantime, authorities are keeping everybody in suspense on the next policy regarding face shields in indoor or outdoor settings.
These face shields have become a staple in Filipinos’ daily protection gear even as many other countries do not recognize it, much less require its use. There is an ongoing debate on its efficacy, and revelations are not helping us decide on whether it is truly a need — or just a manufactured necessity meant to benefit and enrich, a favored few.
People are joking these are just “props,” at their expense.
Mago asked for time to “think things through” with regard to submitting herself to Senate custody. Meanwhile, people are at a loss on how much proof is needed to correct things after we have apparently been lied to.
Nowadays, cops holding sticks shoo away people like cattle if they are not wearing face shields. The brazenness of guilty officials and their cohorts has turned to be a case of rubbing more salt to the injury, demeaning people more and adding to their misery.
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