Senators must be “content" with the price range of the coronavirus vaccines bared by the government to avoid the violation of the confidential agreement with the suppliers, Malacañang said on Wednesday.
(NTF AGAINST COVID-19 / MANILA BULLETIN)
But if the lawmakers want to know the exact price of the vaccine supply secured by the government, Roque said vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. has suggested the signing of a confidential pact between the senators and the vaccine manufacturers.
"I think what Secretary Galvez suggested was not just an executive session, it was a CDA (confidential disclosure agreement) between individual senators and drug companies. That's what I heard from his own mouth but I think there will be informal discussions I've heard and let's see what happens," he said over CNN Philippines Wednesday.
An inquiry into the government's vaccination program has recently been launched by the Senate Committee of the Whole. Galvez reportedly agreed to disclose the details about the vaccination deal between the government and China’s Sinovac in an executive session.
Some lawmakers had earlier expressed concern over the alleged high cost of the Chinese-made vaccines secured by the government in the wake of the reported price differences with the country's neighbors. They have called for the disclosure of the negotiated price but the government officials chose to keep it confidential as part of an initial deal with the supplier.
Roque later announced that each dose of the Sinovac vaccine costs more or less P600 and would not exceed P700. The vaccine price is a friendly rate given by China to its ally the Philippines, he added.
In his remarks Wednesday, Roque said the government could only reveal the price range, not the actual cost of the vaccine, for the sake of transparency.
"They will have to be content with a range because that's what we did. In the spirit of transparency, we gave a range, and of course, I don't think this violates the CDA," he said. "But for Secretary Galvez to say the exact price would be a violation of the CDA," he added.
In his televised address Monday night, the President defended the government's reluctance to reveal the price details of the vaccines, citing the confidential agreement signed by officials with the manufacturer. "Every negotiation ibang agreement na naman ‘yan (there's another agreement). It does not involve money. But one thing is certain: you cannot divulge the contract price agreed upon," he said.
Duterte also backed Galvez's compliance with the confidentiality clause on the vaccine price, saying that keeping mum about a product price is an industry practice.
He cautioned that future procurement plans would hit a snag if the confidential nature of the deal will be questioned.
"Kaya sabihin mo sa kanila na, are we ready or are we ready to break this deal? Sabihin mo gagawin --- sabihin ko kung ano na, isabi ko sa iyo (You ask them, 'Are we ready or are we ready to break this deal?' Tell them that I'll ask you to do it)," he said.
"Pero sabihin mo bitawan mo kasi wala --- walang katapusan ito (But tell them that if you reveal it, this will not be over). Any other deal that you may enter into in the future, again, it will suffer a snag because they cannot really wait or they refuse to find out why this peculiar thing about non-disclosure is always included in the preliminary contracts that you sign with the manufacturers," he added.