MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) has filed criminal charges against two persons involved in the “vaccine slot for sale” scheme in Mandaluyong City.
In a statement Wednesday, PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, said charges of estafa under Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code, violation of Section 21-H (fixing and/or collusion with fixers) of Republic Act 11032 or the Anti-Red Tape Law of 2007 and Section 6 of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 were filed against Cyle Cedric Bonifacio and Melvin Gutierrez before the Mandaluyong City Prosecutor’s Office on Monday.
Bonifacio was turned over to authorities by his father, a village councilor in Mandaluyong after the local police began looking for him after his identity was ascertained in an investigation.
Eleazar said Bonifacio, in his testimony, said Gutierrez, a barangay fire volunteer, was the one who helped him get a vaccination slot in the city.
“Ang pahayag pa ni Bonifacio, isang beses lang niya nagawa ang mamagitan para sa pagkuha ng vaccination slot at ang PHP12,000 na binigay sa kanya, through online bank transfer, ay reward daw (Bonifacio added that he only intervened once to get the vaccination slot and the PHP12,000 given to him, through online bank transfer, was a reward),” he added.
Eleazar said it was through this that Bonifacio got the idea to offer vaccination slots in exchange for money and offered it to his high school classmate, who rejected his sales pitch and made the public aware of this illegal activity.
Eleazar added that an investigation by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Anti-Cybercrime Group is ongoing to determine other people who may be involved in this scheme.
He further reminded the public that vaccination is offered for free by the different local governments and that all they need to do is register and wait for their vaccination schedule.
“Magsilbing babala sana sa ibang magtatangkang dayain ang sistema ng ating national vaccination program ang ating pagsasampa ng kaso laban kay Bonifacio at Gutierrez. Wala po tayong dapat na ilabas na pera para sa pagpapabakuna,” Eleazar said. (PNA)
