Gordon: AFP backing out of PSG vaccines probe 'tragic'

The Armed Forces of the Philippines' decision to call off its probeon the vaccination of members of the Presidential Security Group with unauthorized COVID-19 vaccines leaves a bad taste in the mouth, Senator Richard Gordon has said.

"That's tragic... It leaves an impression na 'Oy, kabaro natin 'yan, hindi pwedeng imbestigahin 'yan," Gordon said in an online interview.

"Dapat may managot. Pwede namang i-reprimand, eh bakit di iimbestigahin? Nagtataka ako dahil ang Secretary of Defense sinabi smuggled 'yan eh," he added.

The AFP stopped its investigation on the use of unregistered COVID-19 vaccines among the PSG after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the troops to keep mum on the inoculation controversy.

"That's unfortunate because I think he's wrong. The President has got to respect the separation of powers clause," Gordon said.

"I stand by the independence of Congress... No one can overwhelm the other and put it into submission in the same manner that we can't bully the executive and threaten them with investigations," he added.

Malacañang, meanwhile, said the probe led by the Food and Drug Administration and the National Bureau of Investigation would continue despite Duterte's rejection of a Senate inquiry into the issue.

PSG commander Brigadier General Jesus Durante III has taken full responsibility for the said vaccination. He claimed that the vaccines were donated upon their request but he refused to disclose the source. -NB, GMA News