Raffy Tulfo slams FDA over unregistered, harmful products sale

Senator Raffy Tulfo slammed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday for its failure to stop the continued sale of unregistered and potentially dangerous products in the market.

During a Senate Finance Committee deliberation of the Department of Health budget, Tulfo questioned the effectiveness of the FDA’s consumer advisories, which he said amount to little more than empty warnings with no real enforcement.

In expressing outrage over the agency’s apparent inaction, Tulfo cited one example—the GlutaGenC Glow Gummies, a beauty supplement that has reportedly caused adverse health reactions among consumers, including a child who fell seriously ill. 

The incident received national media attention, yet the product remains widely available on e-commerce platforms like Shopee and in physical stores, Tulfo noted.

The FDA defended its limited enforcement capabilities by pointing out it only has 890 plantilla employees, making it difficult to monitor the massive volume of products in circulation. 

But Tulfo dismissed the explanation, calling it an unacceptable excuse.

“If the FDA is really serious, they can assign people to monitor these cases by simply calling major drugstores, shops, and online marketplaces to check if they are still selling banned products,” Tulfo argued.

The senator didn’t stop there. He challenged FDA Director-General Paolo Teston to take decisive action—or step down.

“If by next hearing these banned products are still being sold in the market, he should resign from his post because the public is clearly not benefiting from his leadership,” Tulfo declared.

Tulfo earlier hinted at possible corruption within the agency, noting that some FDA personnel may be accepting bribes to ignore violations.

“It's likely some suppliers of banned products are bribing FDA personnel, which is why they choose to turn a blind eye to this problem,” he said.

Tulfo urged the FDA to clean up its ranks, enforce its regulations more aggressively, and take its mandate to protect public health seriously, especially with the growing number of unregulated health and beauty products circulating in the market.