House adopts Senate vaccination program bill
MANILA, Philippines — The House leadership sped up the legislative process by adopting Senate Bill No. 2057 or the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act, given the “extraordinary” importance of buying life-saving vaccines.
House majority leader and Leyte First District Rep. Martin Romualdez said the measure, which includes a P500-million indemnity fund, will be enrolled for President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature soon.
In a statement on Wednesday, Romualdez said the House leadership “opted to adopt the Senate version to avoid a bicameral conference committee meeting and speed up the legislative process.”
The lower chamber’s version of the measure, House Bill No. 8648, removed a provision that would have allowed local government units to directly buy COVID-19 vaccines from manufacturers.
