President Rodrigo Roa Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang on July 30, 2020. SIMEON CELI JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
President Rodrigo Duterte will receive China’s donation of 600,000 Sinovac vaccine doses, Malacanang said on Wednesday.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte himself had volunteered to welcome the vaccines from China out of “utang na loob” or debt of gratitude.
“Well, unang-una po, talagang sinabi ni Presidente na nais niyang salubungin iyong pagdating ng Sinovac. Alam mo Pilipino tayo, tumatanaw tayo ng utang na loob. Sa ating panahon ng pangangailangan eh talaga naman iyong kaibigan nating Tsina ang nagpadala ng unang bakuna sa atin,” he said in a virtual presser.
The move, Roque said, would not affect the country’s relationship with China and would merely be a show of gratitude by Duterte.
“So hanggang doon lang po iyon. Wala naman pong epekto iyan sa ibang mga isyu na mayroon tayo sa ating bilateral relation sa Tsina. Magpapasalamat lang po ang Presidente dahil sa panahon ng pagsubok, Tsina na naman ang nag-deliver,” he said.
“Hindi po masama na ipakita ang ating utang na loob. Ang Pilipino po, sabihin ninyo na ang gusto ninyong sabihin, hinding-hindi po tayo inggrato.”
Roque said that vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana had expressed willingness to get injected with the Chinese vaccines to allay vaccine hesitancy among Filipinos.
“Importante iyong palawakin pa iyong kumpiyansa ng ating taumbayan at talaga naman pong kinikilala namin na kung kaming mga leaders ay magpapauna na magpabakuna ng Sinovac ay tataas po ang kumpiyansa ng taumbayan.”
Roque earlier said Duterte had expressed preference for Sinopharm, another Chinese-developed vaccine.
Sinovac vaccines recently secured authorization by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration for emergency use. However, the regulator did not recommend the vaccines for senior citizens and health workers.
The Chinese firm has pledged 600,000 vaccine doses to the Philippines, expected to arrive on Feb. 26.
Of the 600,000 doses, 100,000 would be for soldiers. John Ezekiel J. Hirro