Go urges Duterte, Sotto to unite for quick implementation of vaccine program

Sen. Christopher Go (Photo from his office)

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte and Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday to work towards greater unity to ensure the transparent and quick implementation of the national vaccination program against COVID-19.

“For the sake of our country and our poor fellow Filipinos, I am appealing to President Duterte and to Senate President Sotto to just unite so that we could start with the vaccination,” Go said partly in Filipino.

Go made the statement as Duterte and the Senate clashed on the issue of disclosing the actual price of  CoronVac, the vaccine developed by Chinese firm Sinovac BioTech.

There has been speculation, as pointed out by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, that there might have been corruption in the purchase of the vaccine as administration officials refused to disclose its actual price — which Duterte denied in his last weekly briefing on the government’s pandemic response.

“The president merely answered what he read in one column. I don’t control what’s on the president’s mind,” he said.

According to Go, the president has already directed Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the vaccine czar, to provide Sotto with details of the vaccine agreements to remove doubts and ensure transparency in the process being undertaken.

Go himself also requested Galvez to explain further to the public the processes that the government went through in acquiring the vaccine to remove any fears and doubts.

“The more that we can’t get along in this, the more it’s delayed, the more it will take longer [for the vaccination to proceed],” Go said.

Ordinary Filipinos would be the ones to suffer, he pointed out.

Go said, however, that he understood Galvez’s reluctance to share too much information about the purchase of the vaccines as it could risk breaching the confidentiality set by vaccine manufacturers.

He noted that Malaysia, as an example.

“They violated the nondisclosure agreement. The contract was terminated. The supplier was frightened and refused to talk further,” Go said.

Go also assured the public that he would call for transparency on vaccine pricing and procurement to cast off doubts and apprehensions. But he emphasized that the process must not delay the country from securing enough supply of safe and effective vaccines.

As for the safety and efficacy issues surrounding the vaccines, Go said: “It is up to our medical health experts. The president is relying on our medical experts.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), he said, would have to rule the vaccine as safe before it could be used. Otherwise, the government would not allow it.

To further allay fears regarding the COVID-19 vaccination, Go repeated his challenge to Galvez and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III for them to be inoculated first. Duterte himself was also willing to be vaccinated first, he said.

He also challenged Vice President Leni Robredo to help build the confidence of the public and offer to be vaccinated first.

[atm]