Duterte sees no major lapse from Duque on Pfizer deal fallout — Palace

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte appears to not have seen any major lapse on the part of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III when it comes to the alleged fallout of the COVID-19 vaccine supply deal with US drugmaker Pfizer, Malacañang said Thursday.

According to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, Duque discussed the claims that he was the one who “dropped the ball” that bungled the deal to buy 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine during a meeting with Duterte on Wednesday night.

Roque said Duque was “lively, animated, and emotional” when he tackled the issue before Duterte and other members of the Cabinet.

Duterte supposedly told his Health chief to directly answer the allegations. But Roque said that based on the President’s “overall demeanor,” it appears that he was not convinced there is negligence on the part of Duque.

“I think from the overall demeanor of the President, eh wala naman po siyang nakikita na major lapse. Dahil ang pinag-uusapan po ay kontrata at hindi naman abugado si Sec. Duque. Wala rin pong danyos na nangyari dahil patuloy pa rin po ang pagkuha natin sa Pfizer,” Roque said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Tuesday tweeted that he and Philippine Ambassador to US Jose Manuel Romualdez were able to secure millions of vaccine doses of Pfizer vaccines which is to arrive in the country by January 2021.

However, the country’s top diplomat bared that the plans were foiled after “someone dropped the ball.” he did not identify who he was referring to.

It was Senator Panfilo Lacson who claimed that it was Duque who allegedly botched the deal by failing to submit a confidentiality data agreement that would have allowed the transaction to push through.

Duque denied the allegations, saying that “there is no such thing as dropping the ball” as negotiations with Pfizer are still ongoing.

“I just want to make sure that the provisions [of the CDA] are not loose or disadvantageous to the government,” Duque said.

He then explained that it was only on Sept. 24 that the Department of Health was informed that it is the agency to sign the deal with Pfizer instead of the Department of Science of Technology (DOST).

Duque said he had the CDA checked by lawyers from the DOH, DOST as well as the Office of the Executive Secretary. He noted that by Oct. 20, he had already signed the document.

EDV