Mandaluyong police identifies another suspect in vax for sale scheme

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 8:53 a.m.) — Mandaluyong City police have identified another suspect in the vaccine for sale scheme in the city, an official said on Thursday.

Col. Gauvin Mel Unos, city police chief, said they were tracking down another suspected Mandaluyong resident who they found to have possible connection to the alleged vaccine for sale scheme.

“The suspect is still at large,” he told The STAR.

Unos said the suspect has alleged connections to the local government unit. He said the local government has denied any participation in the alleged scheme.

“Not an employee of the city government, not a member of the vaccination team. Neither a barangay employee. Allegedly a volunteer,” Unos said, but did not elaborate.

“Lalabas yan pag na-file na yung kaso. Basta within this week,” he added.

(That’s going to be divulged once the case has been filed. Maybe this week.)

The development came a week after 25-year-old Cyle Bonifacio surrendered to the local government over his alleged involvement in the alleged illicit sale of vaccines. Police said Bonifacio has been released pending the filing of charges.

“They (CIDG) haven’t given to us the (documents) for filing because they’re still waiting for the Department of Health’s reply to apply the Bayanihan Act in the charges against him. That’s the only thing we’re waiting for to enforce the Bayanihan Act in the case filing,” Unos added.

The alleged vaccine for sale scheme surfaced last month when concerned citizens posted about the supposed sale of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination slots in Mandaluyong and San Juan City, prompting an investigation from several law enforcement agencies.

Police have not yet disclosed whether Bonifacio was the person in the shots of social media messages that circulated, but said they would be releasing “concrete details” once charges have been filed.

While the local government of San Juan said it was confident none of its employees were involved in such schemes, police earlier said they were also looking at the relation of the incident involving Bonifacio and his supposed cohorts in the alleged vaccine for sale schemes in San Juan.