MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. to disclose to Senate President Vicente Sotto III the government’s COVID-19 vaccine deals.
This was according to long-time Duterte aide-turned-senator, Christopher “Bong” Go.
“Kausap ko po si Pangulo at inatasan niya si Sec. Galvez na ipaalam po ang kasunduan kay Senate President Sotto,” Go said in a video-recorded statement sent to reporters on Tuesday.
(I talked to the President and he ordered Sec. Galvez to disclose the deals with Senate President Sotto.)
“Nagkausap na rin po kami ni Senate President ukol dito, para magkaroon po ng transparency,” he added.
(I was also able to talk to the Senate President about this, this is for transparency.)
This comes after Duterte on Monday defended the reluctance of government officials to make public the price offered by China’s Sinovac BioTech for its Covid-19 vaccine.
The government has already secured 25 million doses of CoronaVac, the Covid-19 vaccine produced by Sinovac.
The exact price, however, remains undisclosed, with officials citing the confidential disclosure agreement (CDA) that it signed with the Chinese firm.
Asked whether Galvez would only divulge details on the government’s deal with Sinovac, Go said: Tingin ko lahat na [ng vaccine deals].
(I think all the vaccine deals.)