There is no corruption in the government's procurement of vaccines needed to protect Filipinos from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), President Duterte asserted Monday, Feb. 8.
Addressing the nation on state television, the President admitted that he was hurt by "sweeping" corruption allegations in the acquisition of the vaccines.
Duterte made it clear that he and other officials do not actually hold the money for the vaccine purchase. He explained that since the government has taken out loans for the acquisition of the vaccines, the payment will be made between the multilateral lender and the drug manufacturer.
"Itong pambayad natin sa bakuna, hiniram natin ito sa DBP pati sa World Bank. Wala kasi tayong pera. Ngayong pagdating sa bayaran, kung tapos na lahat, ang mga manufacturers ang Pfizer, lahat, magkolekta sila hindi sa atin. Doon nila kunin ang pera nila sa World Bank pati DBP (In the payment of the vaccines, we borrowed funds from DBP and World Bank. We don't have money. Now when it comes to the payment, when everything is done, the manufacturers like Pfizer will not collect the payment from us. They will get the money from the World and DBP)," he said.
"So walang corruption dito kasi walang hinahawakan ni sinuman sa amin dito na bilyon (So there is no corruption here because we are not holding the billions of pesos)," he added.
"Masakit sa amin na basta na lang sweeping allegations about corruption. 'Yung ang pakiusap ko lang din sa members ng Congress (The sweeping allegations about corruption hurt us. That's my appeal to the members of Congress)," he said.
Duterte claimed that a lawmaker made the allegation against the government but he refused to identify the person. "We'll just go into rigmarole," he added.
A Senate committee recently launched an inquiry into the government’s vaccination program, grilling administration officials about the procurement of the life-saving drugs. They called for the disclosure of the vaccine price but the government officials declined due to the confidentiality pact with the suppliers. The Palace later promised that the price of the vaccines would be revealed to the public once the supply agreements are sealed.
The President, meantime, thanked Congress for giving the executive branch "critical support" to discharge its duties particularly in the pandemic response and vaccination program. Duterte said he appreciates the lawmakers for understanding the government in dealing with the public health emergency.
Since appropriate funds have been allocated by Congress, Duterte said concerned government officials must ensure the compliance with procurement and accounting rules related to the spending the COVID-related funds.
"My demand would really be just to follow the rules laid down by government... from accounting to procurement, distribution and implementation of the mandate," he said.
"Just follow the rules and we will be happy.. para walang problem (so there is no problem),” he said. “Why? The reason is very simple. It is the people’s money tapos inappropriate ng Congress para dito.”
Duterte said he does not begrudge Congress in the use of the public funds to ensure such resources will "not be wasted or go in corruption.”
The government earlier set aside P82.5 billion for the vaccine procurement, logistics and other supplies amid moves to protect Filipinos from the illness.
Of the total amount, around P70 billion would be used for the procurement of the vaccines. The funds will be sourced from foreign, multilateral, and bilateral loans as well as domestic borrowings. Another P10 billion would be charged against the Bayanihan 2 law while P2.5 billion from the Department of Health's 2021 budget for logistics and other supplies.