MANILA, Philippines – Columnist Ramon Tulfo has claimed that Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Debold Sinas, who recently tested for COVID-19, already got his vaccine jab against the respiratory disease.
In his column for the Manila Times on Thursday, Tulfo, who also sits as President Rodrigo Duterte’s special envoy to China, said that Sinas would “not die of the dreaded virus infection” as he got injected with the COVID-19 vaccine from China state-owned firm Sinopharm in November 2020.
“Sinas was inoculated with the smuggled vaccine along with his security escorts,” Tulfo wrote in his column.
It could be recalled that Tulfo himself admitted that he, too, got inoculated with the Sinopharm vaccines last October along with “some government officials” which he did not name.
Tulfo even said that he is willing to give up his diplomatic post if he would become a locality distributor of the Sinopharm vaccine.
Currently, the emergency use authorization for my the Sinopharm vaccine is still under review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
‘He couldn’t have been infected’
But Sinas quickly debunked Tulfo’s claims, saying that he could not have been infected if he already got the vaccine.
“Our chief simply said that if he had his vaccine, he could not have been infected with COVID-19,” PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana, quoting Sinas, told reporters in a text message.
It was on March 11 when the PNP confirmed that Sinas tested positive for COVID-19.
But Sinas, who previously drew flak for the “mañanita” controversy earlier got called out by the local government of Oriental Mindoro, saying that he did pass through the pier of the province in Calapan City for a health clearance, and arrived instead by helicopter before proceeding to the PNP regional headquarters.
Calapan City Mayor Arnan Panaligan later clarified that Sinas complied with all travel requirements, adding that only online registration and confirmation from the LGU are required for those who want to travel to the city—requirements that he said Sinas has met before his visit.