Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana today publicly defended Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief General Felimon Santos Jr. after the latter asked for COVID-19 medicines from the Chinese ambassador, despite tensions between Manila and Beijing over the West Philippine Sea.
In a statement sent to GMA News, Lorenzana said Santos withdrew his letter after the AFP official learned that the medicine he asked for, called Carrimycin, was not approved for use in the Philippines by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
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“I see nothing wrong with General Santos’ writing a letter to the Chinese Ambassador for assistance to procure Carrimycin tablets, a cure for COVID, available only in China, for his friends who are infected with COVID19,” Lorenzana said.
“He had not violated any regulations nor imperiled the security of the country. Let us put the matter to rest,” he urged.
Secretary Lorenzana added that people should take into consideration what Santos went through when he had COVID-19 but added that the letter sent to Ambassador Huang Xilian should have been coursed through the Department of Foreign Affairs.
“I don’t think he did something improper. It just wasn’t done correctly. That type of letter should have been sent first to the Department of Foreign Affairs,” he said in a virtual press briefing today.
Santos’ letter went public yesterday when ABS-CBN News tweeted a copy of it. The letter, which bore the AFP letterhead, showed Santos asking Huang for five boxes of Carrimycin, a Chinese manufactured drug.
“I believe that the said medicine helped in my recovery from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and I intend to give the said drug to my close friends who have also been infected,” Santos said in his letter.
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Santos added in his letter that after testing positive for the coronavirus in March, he was allowed by his doctors to take the said medicine for six days. He tested negative for the virus soon after.
A netizen said Santos’ letter posed a “national security concern,” while another said that the general shouldn’t be asking for a personal favor while using the AFP’s official letterhead.
The AFP chief did not deny sending the letter to Huang but said that he took it back after learning that the FDA has yet to approve its use in the Philippines.
Santos told Rappler, “A friend gave that [medicine] to me. I just wanted to know if it’s available in the market. That’s a personal letter but I recalled that because it still hasn’t been approved.”
“But someone has already applied [for the drug’s approval,” the AFP chief said. “That [letter] is personal.”
