BEWARE – Bohol health authorities are warning the public to be vigilant after reports circulated of fake anti-rabies vaccines making the rounds in the province, urging residents to seek inoculation only from accredited government health centers and licensed facilities. (Contributed photo)
By DAVE SUAN ALBARADO
Bohol Gov. Aris Aumentado has ordered an inspection of anti-rabies vaccine stocks in the province’s government and private animal-bite treatment centers, responding to reports that counterfeit vaccines seized in a Taguig City raid may have been distributed as far as Bohol.
The directive tasks the Provincial Health Office and the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian to examine vaccine inventories, audit storage and handling procedures, validate supply records and address any complaints related to the issue.
Aumentado assured the public that vaccines procured by the province through the Department of Health (DOH) went through proper bidding and complied with regulatory requirements.
“Public health is our paramount concern,” the Capitol said in a statement, adding that results of the inspection would be released once completed.
The provincial crackdown follows a joint operation by the Food and Drug Administration and the National Bureau of Investigation that raided an unlicensed residential facility in Taguig City.
Investigators recovered suspected falsified anti-rabies vaccines along with repackaging materials, sticker labels, hologram adhesive tapes, vaccine cartons and unlabeled vials.
Notably, no medical-grade refrigerators were found at the site — a red flag, since improper cold chain storage degrades a vaccine’s efficacy and potency, raising serious questions about the safety of any doses already administered.
The FDA is currently conducting laboratory tests to determine whether the seized vials contain actual medicine or merely water and powder.
The unauthorized products were reportedly sold at prices significantly below those of legitimate vaccines — a detail investigators say points to deliberate counterfeiting.
Suspects have been charged with violating the Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009 and the Special Law on Counterfeit Drugs, and are detained at the NBI Detention Facility.
In Tagbilaran City, Mayor Jane Yap moved quickly, ordering a sweeping inspection of pharmacies and threatening to cancel business permits and place violators on a permanent blacklist.
She identified private pharmacies as the more likely entry point for fake vaccines, given that government-supplied stocks pass through established regulatory channels.
She gave pharmacies the option to voluntarily surrender suspicious vaccine stocks before inspectors arrived.
“The city will not tolerate anyone putting the public’s health at risk,” Yap said, urging residents to report any suspicious vaccines or transactions to the City Health Office.
Those inspections, conducted March 30, 2026, came back clean.
City Administrator Alvin Acuzar said the composite team — composed of the City Health Office, Department of Health, Philippine National Police-Tagbilaran and other regulatory and law enforcement agencies — inspected 84 of the city’s 88 registered pharmacies.
The remaining four had already shuttered operations as early as February, a development Acuzar said was unrelated to the current issue.
City Health Officer Dr. Jeia Pondoc said investigators found only minor lapses: a handful of establishments had not updated their vaccine monitoring and temperature logs.
All vaccine stocks on the shelves, however, carried complete and legitimate documentation.
None of the brands flagged by the FDA — including “Speeda” and “Vaxirab,” which the DOH had warned about in a previous advisory — were found in any of the inspected establishments.
The city government has written to the FDA for additional information and is coordinating with the program that first exposed the fake vaccine operation, Acuzar said.
The current scare is not the Philippines’ first brush with counterfeit rabies vaccines.
In December 2018, The Medical City in Metro Manila discovered that counterfeit Verorab had infiltrated its supply chain and been administered to patients — a breach traced back to a licensed wholesaler during a period when a global shortage of Rabipur had forced hospitals to seek alternative suppliers.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has separately warned travelers that the Philippines FDA reported the circulation of counterfeit Speeda human rabies vaccine and Equirab rabies antiserum, noting that such products may be ineffective and could contain harmful ingredients.
Rabies remains a serious public health threat in the Philippines, which records among the highest number of human rabies deaths in Southeast Asia each year.
An ineffective or fake post-exposure vaccine — given to someone bitten by a potentially rabid animal — is not merely a consumer fraud issue. It is potentially fatal.
Bohol Capitol said monitoring is ongoing and that updated findings will be released as they become available.
Residents who have recently received anti-rabies vaccines from private facilities and have concerns are encouraged to consult the nearest animal-bite treatment center or call the City Health Office.