FDA acting chief grilled over appointment, ties to predecessor

MANILA, Philippines — The Food and Drug Administration's acting chief faced pointed questions on Friday, September 4, over how he got the post, after Sen. Raffy Tulfo linked his appointment to a controversial predecessor. Tulfo, who separately raised concerns about medicine procurement at the same hearing on the health department's proposed 2027 budget, told newly appointed Health Secretary Edwin Mercado he was not to blame for those issues. The senator claimed the problems traced back to holdovers from the tenure of former Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa. One of those holdovers, Tulfo said, was former FDA Director General Paolo Teston, who left the post after being appointed as a new associate justice at the Court of Tax Appeals in late July. Teston led the FDA as director general starting in mid-2025 after serving as health undersecretary. Tulfo has criticized his leadership since at least January, when he and fellow senators grilled Teston over the agency's failure to stop the sale of fake and unregistered medicine online. But Tulfo then turned to someone else in the hearing room: Franklin Tabaquin, the FDA's current officer-in-charge, whom Tulfo claimed Teston had personally brought into the agency. Herbosa led the health department before Jose "Brix" Pujalte Jr. and then Mercado took over in August. DOH employees have filed complaints alleging conflicts of interest tied to procurement during Herbosa's tenure. Tulfo during Friday's hearing asked Tabaquin how he had entered the FDA. Tabaquin said he had come from the private sector and another government agency before applying for a position at the agency. Asked who had recommended him, Tabaquin confirmed it was Teston. Tulfo also asked Tabaquin to confirm he had skipped over more senior officials in his rise through the agency, and that he had a pending graft and corruption case before the Office of the Ombudsman. Tabaquin confirmed both. Tabaquin said the case concerned delays that happened "way, way before my time." He said he became OIC deputy director for operations last October, was made deputy director general this July, and has served as officer-in-charge for only two weeks so far. Tulfo argued that more experienced FDA staff had been passed over for the post. "I don't know you. Okay? And there's nothing personal to what I'm going to say to you. You don't deserve to be the director general because there are others who are better than you," Tulfo said. "Nagkamali ang Malacañang. Kasi binitbit ka ni Teston. Kung saan impyerno ka nanggaling, binitbit ka ni Teston," Tulfo claimed he had received information that Tabaquin was being lined up to be named the FDA's permanent director general, a move he said would extend Teston's influence over the agency. "The nonsense Teston was doing while he was still there just continues," Tulfo said of Tabaquin's appointment. — Cristina Chi