Senator Raffy Tulfo reminded Department of Health Secretary Ted Harbosa to fulfill his commitment to remove Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Paolo Teston from his post.

This was once Tulfo successfully facilitated the takedown of several products flagged by the FDA under its Public Health Warning Advisories as dangerous to public health.

In his privilege speech at the Senate on Dec. 15, Tulfo shared that as promised, the said dangerous products that had been widely sold on online platforms like Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop were taken down in only seven working days.

“There is a need to cleanse the ranks of FDA, naka ilang palit na ang head diyan, and walang nagbabago. It seems that they have not found one with a stern hand and will to actually fix the system. It should be someone who could pull out the bad weeds in FDA. Because clearly there are bad weeds: inutil, tamad o corrupt (There is a need to cleanse the ranks of the FDA. The head has been replaced several times, yet nothing has changed. It seems they have not found someone with a firm hand and the will to actually fix the system. It should be someone who can pull out the bad weeds in the FDA—because clearly there are bad weeds: incompetent, lazy, or corrupt)," he said.

“Again, we spend so much money on health to address the medical concerns of our people, I hope the government will not be the reason why people get sick. DOH Secretary Herbosa, make true your word, for the sake of the health of the Filipino People, demand the resignation of FDA Director-General Paolo Teston,” he added.

It can be recalled that Tulfo first criticized the FDA for the continued sale of unregistered products that pose health risks during the October 1 DOH budget hearing, questioning them why they release health advisories when they could not properly implement them.

He also directly challenged FDA Director-General Paolo Teston, saying that if by the 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.

During the subsequent Plenary Budget Debates on November 26, Se. Raffy said the prohibited products were still available online, prompting him to confront the FDA again, through DOH Secretary Ted Herbosa.

Herbosa accepted Tulfo’s challenge that if the senator himself could have the products taken down from the platforms, the Secretary would personally remove Teston from his position, as it appeared that the FDA chief was not doing his job.

“The deadline was December 9, 2025. With just 2 of my staff working, kaya po gawin ang trabaho. On November 27, we immediately sent out letters to Shopee and Lazada, and on December 5, we wrote to Tiktok. Everyday after that, we would message the point person asking for the status of our request. It just takes a few minutes every day to do that,” he said.

As a result, within seven working days from the said budget hearing, a total of 700 products listed under the FDA’s Health Warning Advisories had been taken down as of December 9: 373 product listings from Lazada, 189 from Shopee, and 138 from TikTok Shop.

Tulfo also called on Teston to step down from his post if he still had any sense of shame left.