Batangas gov refutes report of zero-fund for vaccination program

LUCENA CITY –– Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas has refuted the report of a Manila-based radio station that the provincial government has no fund for the procurement of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines.

“That’s not true. That’s false news,” Mandanas said in a radio interview on Wednesday, the video which was posted on the Facebook page of the provincial public information office on Thursday, Feb. 18.

Mandanas said he planned to file a complaint on the matter, without saying if he would lodge it with the media company or elsewhere, as the report “erode(d) the confidence of our people not only to the (vaccination) program of the province but also of the whole country.”

Mandanas said the provincial government has P1 billion in the Land Bank of the Philippines and a standby loan for P4 billion in the Development Bank of the Philippines for its vaccination program.

The governor did say what vaccine brands they intended to buy.

Mandanas said all residents in the province, who want to be vaccinated, would be inoculated for free.

Mandanas said the national government also gave P150 million to the province, which was used in their ongoing battle against COVID-19.

Some of the funds were used for the improvement of facilities in 14 government hospitals, construction of isolation centers, and other improvements of evacuation centers in different parts of the province, the governor said.

Mandanas emphasized the importance of having a united effort, particularly citing the role of the media, to regain the trust of the people in the war to prevent the spread of the virus.

As of Feb. 17, Batangas recorded 12,713 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic was declared in March last year, of which 972 were recorded in 2021.

The province still has 275 active virus carriers.

LZB