MANILA, Philippines — “We will remember you after this.”
President Rodrigo Duterte gave this assurance to private firms and businessmen helping the government in its COVID-19 pandemic response.
“I’m thanking you. It’s a big deal really for you to be conscious also of the problem and trying to give a helping hand. We will remember you after this. And more importantly, God will always be conscious of what you are doing,” Duterte said in a taped speech aired Wednesday night.
The President made the pronouncement after vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. reported to him that private pharmaceutical firms would help the government provide the needed cold-chain storage facilities for the vaccines to be bought by the Philippines.
Before this, notable businessmen and conglomerates donated and rolled out projects aimed at supporting those affected by the Luzon lockdown.
Private firms have also recently entered into a tripartite agreement with the government and British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca for the procurement of six million doses of coronavirus vaccines — half of which will be donated by the private sector to the national government while the other three million will be used for the companies’ employees.
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