‘Not practical’ for LGUs to directly procure Covid-19 vaccines — solon

MANILA, Philippines — It will not be practical to give local government units (LGUs) the freedom to negotiate the direct procurement of Covid-19 vaccines as this will “overwhelm” the supplying pharmaceutical companies, a lawmaker said Thursday.

“Yung original version namin, inaalam namin yung direct procurement kasi gusto nga namin ma-empower yung local governments na dumirecho sa supplier (Our original version, we were looking into if the direct procurement because we wanted to empower the local government to directly get their vaccines.),” Quirino Rep. Junie Cua told reporters in an interview regarding House Bill No. 8648.

“Pero noong inimbita namin yung mga stakeholders, lalo na yung NTF (National Task Force Against Covid-19), DOH (Department of Health), na pinaliwanag, ang sabi naman mahirap kung ang LGU, kanya-kanyang lapit sa pharma company, mao-overwhelm yung pharma company,” he added.

(But when we invited our stakeholders, especially the NTF and DOH, they said that it would be hard if LGUs will directly procure it from pharmaceutical companies. They will be overwhelmed.)

“Hindi yan kakayanan ng pharma companies. Magiging magulo, at kung kanya-kanya pang bili, ang volume limited, edi lahat tayo magko-compete, tataas na yung presyo,” he further said.

(Pharma companies couldn’t handle it. It would be confusing if they will procure it on their own one by one. The volume is limited. Then all of us would compete in getting the vaccines, the prices will go up.)

“So hindi practical na narealize namin na may punto kaya ang nangyari na imbes na i-direcho, ang magne-negotiate national government through the NTF or DOH.”

(What we realized that it was not practical, so that is why instead of direct procurement, it’s either the NTF or DOH who will negotiate on behalf of the LGUs.)

House Bill No. 8648, filed by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, and Minority Leader Joseph Stephen Paduano, seeks to provide LGUs with exemptions to the procurement requirements set by Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act. The measure covers the direct purchase by LGUs of Covid-19 vaccines and other much-needed supplies during the pandemic.

During the interpellation for House Bill No. 8648, Cua added that a tripartite deal between the national government and local government when it comes to purchasing Covid-19 vaccines in pharmaceutical firms is “unavoidable.”

/MUF