CIDG ordered: Investigate vaccine schedule 'fixers'
MANILA, Philippines — The national police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group has been directed to look into allegations that "fixers" are making money from vaccine scheduling in local governments.
This comes after Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto disclosed that two fixers were caught asking for fees in exchange for allowing persons to get COVID-19 shots ahead of their schedules in Pasig City’s vaccination program.
“It's possible this isn't happening in Pasig only and this needs to be resolved immediately. We will closely coordinate with our LGUs to prevent the proliferation of this modus,” Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, PNP chief, said in a statement.
Eleazar appealed for the public to patiently wait for their scheduled vaccination to avoid falling prey to the scheme.
“Let's not bite and be fooled by this modus. I will repeat that the whole vaccination process is free, we just have to wait for our schedule or line up at the vaccination centers of the LGUs that are open to walk-ins," he said in Filipino.
In an interview aired over dzMM TeleRadyo, Mayor Sotto said that one of the fixers they caught was a profiler in the city's vaccination teams.
READ: COVID-19 vaccination fixers nabbed in Pasig
“Definitely, charges will be filed against these two individuals. We have a witness against them. Our legal team is now studying what are the appropriate charges that will be filed against them," he said in Filipino.
Official government data showed that 10,065,414 doses were given as of June 27. It would translate to 2,525,286 Filipinos now fully vaccinated for COVID-19, while 7,538,128 have received their first shot.
In the last seven days, figures showed too that the average daily administered doses was at 236,867.
To date, authorities have tallied over 1.4 million coronavirus infections in the Philippines, 52,029 of whom are still active cases.
Just last month, the Philippine National Police said that it identified "at least one person" who allegedly offered a friend two brands of vaccines for up to P15,500 through a messaging app.
'Fixers' are not limited to vaccination scheduling and despite efforts to speed up bureacratic processes at government offices, some still offer to fast-track transactions like driver's license and vehicle registration renewal as well as passport scheduling.
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