President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated on Monday that the COVID-19 vaccine procurement of the government is and will always be free from corruption.
During his weekly public address, along with some key government officials, the Chief Executive admitted that he is well aware that some of our countrymen have been asking where are the vaccines purchased by the authorities, and how much do they cost.
“Kung maniwala kayo sa kanila, sige bahala na. Doon na kayo. Ngayon, kung maniwala kayo sa amin na sinabi ni walang singkong sentimos na hinahawakan po namin. It’s the bank who will pay upon our advice na na-deliver na ‘yong bakuna (If you believe in them, it is up to you. Take their side. Now, if you believe in us, we are telling you that we did touch a single 5 centavo. It’s the bank who will pay upon our advice that the vaccines are delivered),” he revealed.
Among the personalities who are continuously criticizing the administration’s measures against COVID-19 are some senators. Hence, in the same public address, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III shared that he has already submitted a letter of explanation to the Senate on the government’s spending amid the prevailing health crisis.
“Revenues went down because of the lockdown, less income, and our expenditures went up because of the COVID so we had to borrow more money,” Secretary Dominguez pointed out.
Despite these issues, the good news is, a new batch of COVID-19 vaccine supply is expected to arrive in the country in the coming days.
According to Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez, Jr., “Ang atin pong remaining vaccines to be delivered for March. This coming March, Wednesday, 7 o’clock po, darating na po ‘yong ating donations from Sinovac, ‘yong 400,000. And then according to WHO, ‘yong ating supply ay nasa Europe na po, ‘yong 979,200. Naghihintay na lang po tayo ng kanyang deployment going to the Philippines (Our remaining vaccines are to be delivered for March. This coming March, Wednesday, 7 o’clock our remaining vaccines from Sinovac will be arriving, that’s 400,000. And then according to WHO, our supply is now in Europe, that’s 979,200. We are just waiting for deployment going to the Philippines).”
“And then ‘yong Sinovac po, March 29, ay 1 million po ang atin pong matatanggap. Ito po ‘yong nabili po natin na ide-deploy po nila at kukunin po ng Philippine Airlines in two shuttles this coming ano March 29 po. So ang total doses po na darating po ngayong ano ngayong first quarter is 2.379 million doses (And for the Sinovac, on March 29, we will be receiving 1 million. We bought these, they will deploy and will be picked by Philippine Airlines in two shuttles this coming March 29. So, the total doses that will be arriving this first quarter is 2.379 million doses),” he added.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III underscored the importance of these vaccines now more than ever, as the number of COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
“Unang-una, atin pong nalagpasan ang pinakamataas o peak cases noong Agosto at posibleng patuloy na tumaas ang kaso kung hindi natin mahigpit na ipapatupad ang atin pong mga additional restrictions katulad ng: ang NCR ay nasa high risk classification at limang rehiyon ang nasa moderate risk (First of all, we were able to go past the highest or peak cases last August and the cases could possibly spike if we will not be strict in implementing our additional restrictions like: the NCR is under high risk classification and 5 regions are at moderate risk),” Secretary Duque said.
Amid all these, President Duterte reminded the public to remain vigilant and strictly observe health protocols, to maintain the balance between health and economy.
“Kung sarahan mo talaga lahat, it would be disaster for the country. So balance-balance na lang tayo (If we close everything, it would be disaster for the country. So let us keep the balance),” he enjoined. – Mela Lesmoras
