The construction of a major vaccination facility at the Nayong Pilipino in Parañaque City will proceed, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III confirmed Thursday (May 13).
Duque said the memorandum of agreement for the mega facility is now up for signing. The facility operations will also be under the supervision of the Department of Health (DOH).
“Inaayos lang. Ang latest sa akin is nasa OGCC [Office of the Government Corporate Counsel], kinukuhaan lang ng legal clearance para maging maayos. But we are ready to sign the memorandum of agreement to convert the Nayong Filipino site into a major huge vaccination site,” Duque said.
Vaccine Czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said the building of the facility must be fast-tracked to support the vaccination of at least 10,000 individuals daily.
The Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF) said in a statement last week that the construction of the vaccination facility may lead to the cutting of nearly 500 trees and that “other site works on the NPF property will kill the existing ecosystem.”
“Once lost, it could take decades to recover this ecosystem. A mega-vaccination facility that will destroy this ecosystem would be a disaster and a disservice to the residents of Metro Manila who need more green and open spaces,” it added.
Meanwhile, business tycoon Enrique Razon, who leads International Container Terminal Services, Inc. which will construct the facility, said the land to be used is reclaimed land and not an urban forest.
The Department of Tourism clarified that the allegation that “some 500 trees will allegedly be affected by this initiative” is false, and that “no trees will be affected.”
“The architectural team has made sure to build the temporary vaccination facility around existing grasslands and trees,” it added. – Report from Naomi Tiburcio/AG-jlo#
