PH Navy chief says he’ll get vaccine first if it will boost public confidence

MANILA, Philippines–Navy chief Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo on Friday (Feb. 26) said he was “willing to go first” in line to get injected with coronavirus vaccine to boost public confidence although he preferred that Navy personnel get it first.

“If the intent is to show to the public about our confidence (sic) in this inoculation program of the government then I am willing to go first,” he told reporters.

He said, however, that he believed that health workers in the military, who are on the frontline of the health crisis, should be priority for injection followed by military men who have other diseases that make them more vulnerable to infection with SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

“I would prefer our personnel to be first rather than us,” Bacordo said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Thursday (Feb. 25) that vaccination would be mandatory in its ranks, including civilian employees.

The Department of National Defense will receive 100,000 out of 600,000 doses of the vaccine CoronaVac, manufactured by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac and being donated by China. These were expected to arrive on Sunday (Feb. 28) and welcomed personally by President Rodrigo Duterte. The AFP was expected to have a share in the vaccines.

Echoing the statements of the AFP leadership, Bacordo said he saw no conflict of interest in accepting donated vaccines from China, which is claiming to own nearly the entire China Sea including Philippine maritime territory in the West Philippine Sea and posing a national security challenge to the Philippine military.

“While West Philippine Sea is a contested territory, in other areas we are cooperating. In all other areas we are working together,” he said.

TSB