MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte assured Filipinos on Monday that he would order a “miracle pill” that could destroy the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 once it is available, and then he would personally supervise its distribution.
“The only way to fight COVID is [by taking a] vaccine — or maybe a miracle pill that would kill it, just as an antibiotic would kill bacteria. But this virus cannot be killed by an antibiotic. It really your body that will produce ng antibodies,” the President said, speaking partly in Filipino, in his late Monday night briefing.
“Now there’s a pill — I hope it’s true — that will fight and it can, maybe, kill the virus. That’s good. When that arrives, when its already available, I will order it. I will distribute it I will personally supervise the distribution,” he added.
Several times in the past, Duterte spoke about acquiring a vaccine. He noted that China, in case it develops a vaccine first, would prioritize the Philippines in distributing the vaccine, considering the close ties between the two countries.
Last Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jingping told Duterte in a phone conversation that the Philippines would indeed be given priority once it had discovered a vaccine for the virus, which originated from Wuhan in China’s Hubei province.
Then last May, Duterte said that he was hopeful that vaccines would come out by January as a company he mentioned supposedly had already started human trials. In this regard, the President urged people to stay alive and fend off death before the vaccine comes.
Duterte did not mention why he would want to personally oversee the distribution of a miracle pill.
But recently, a lot of local government officials found themselves in hot water for alleged anomalies involving the distribution of cash aid for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
These issues forced Duterte to rely on the military for the handing out of the SAP’s second tranche.
/atm