No need for Duterte to apologize for 'hostaged' vaccine accusation vs. EU, says Roque

Malacañang said there was no need for President Duterte to retract his statement or apologize for accusing the European Union (EU) of holding the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines “hostage” after the powerful regional bloc allowed its members to control the exports of vaccines.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after the EU assured Filipinos that its export control mechanism on COVID-19 vaccines will not hamper the Philippines' access to them.

In his Thursday presser, Roque said that Duterte does not need to apologize for his remarks because there was really a need for the EU to clarify the issue.

"Wala po, kasi kinakailangan naman talaga ng paglilinaw (There's no need to apologize or retract his statement since it's an issue that needed to be clarified, anyway)," he said.

"Ang lumalabas eh nagkakaroon nga po ng vaccine nationalism at yun po ang issue na nilabas ng ating Presidente (It seems that there is vaccine nationalism happening and that is the issue that the President wanted to raise)," he added.

Roque, meanwhile, welcomed the EU's clarification on the matter.

"Ngayong nagkaroon ng ganyang paglilinaw (Now that it's been cleared up), we appreciate it," he said.

"Pero kung hindi po nagsalita ang Presidente, hindi sila magbibigay linaw ng ganyan (But if the President didn't speak about it, they would not have clarified the situation)," he added.

On Monday, February 1, Duterte accused the EU of holding as hostage the vaccines made by British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca after the regional block introduced a new mechanism that would allow its member-countries to monitor and block exports of COVID-19 vaccines. The EU has voiced concerns that vaccine doses could be sent overseas before companies could fulfill their obligation in the region.

However, on Wednesday, the EU clarified that its export controls on COVID-19 vaccines will not affect the Philippines.

Roque said on Monday that the Philippines is set to receive from 5,500,800 to 9,290,400 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines through the COVAX Facility within the first half of the year.

The COVAX Facility, which the Philippines joined, is a mechanism led by the World Health Organization (WHO) that is designed to guarantee rapid, fair, and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.