Why Are Medicines Expiring While Filipinos Need Them?
As a pharmacist, reading a news article about expired medicines allegedly being buried is deeply disturbing and saddening. It’s not just because the medicines cost millions of pesos but because every box represents a patient who could have needed it.
During the Senate finance committee hearing on the Department of Health’s (DOH) proposed budget, Sen. Raffy Tulfo showed photos of medicine boxes being buried in a pit, with P217 million in medicine stocks expired in 2025 alone. This happened despite many local health centers still facing drug shortages. In the face of it, DOH said that stricter rules are now in place for DOH suppliers, requiring medicines to be delivered with at least 18 months of shelf life remaining before their expiration dates.
The reality is that many Filipinos still struggle to afford medicines and medical treatment. Some endure the long lines at Malasakit Centers in public hospitals, some in government agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, while others go to their respective local government units. They navigate one requirement after another while already carrying the emotional and financial burden of having a sick family member. And when PhilHealth support falls short, the burden becomes even heavier to bear.
And this is not just a problem from one year. Based on reported audit findings covering different periods from 2015 to 2024, billions of pesos worth of medicines and other health-related inventories were found to be expired, nearly expired, or damaged.
At this point, it is understandable for the public to ask how a problem of this scale can continue for so long. We cannot simply dismiss this as an unfortunate oversight.
This is not only a story of poor inventory management but also a more serious accusation: that DOH deliberately purchased near-expiry medicines from favored suppliers to secure kickbacks. Whether these allegations are true depends on the outcome of a thorough and independent investigation.
This issue is not new. The aftermath of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” exposed the country’s weaknesses in medicine forecasting, distribution, inventory monitoring, and disposal. In 2020, millions of pesos of undistributed Yolanda relief goods, including expired medicines, were found forgotten in a municipal gymnasium in Kananga, Leyte.
We should not also blame pharmacists and other health-care workers automatically. Many procurement and distribution decisions are made above the facility level. Pharmacists are often the ones left managing the consequences of decisions they did not make.
What we need is not another promise to improve inventory management but a system that works where every peso spent on medicines can be tracked and those who mishandle them are punished.
Medicines are meant to reach patients, not expire in warehouses or be buried in pits.
Teresa May Bandiola,
bandiolateresamayb@gmail.com
