BACOLOD CITY – League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) national president and Mayor Evelio Leonardia here thanked President Duterte for authorizing mayors to make advance payments for COVID-19 vaccines contracted by city governments.
Duterte signed Memorandum Order No. 51 last Feb. 18 “granting authority to local government units (LGUs) to make advance payments for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.”
Leonardia said it is a giant leap towards accelerating the implementation of local vaccination programs, adding that this city is among the top five direct beneficiaries along with Davao, Quezon, Makati, and Manila for having the biggest volume of allocated vaccine supply.
The League took initiatives in encouraging cities to procure their vaccines to ensure that the target population is vaccinated.
“We are very thankful to President Rodrigo Duterte for the timely issuance of Memorandum Order 51,” Leonardia said.
He also said that this has a direct impact, especially to cities which had earlier signed the multilateral agreement with the Department of Health (DoH), National Task Force Against COVID-19, and AstraZeneca. “But this will, more importantly, benefit all LGUs similarly situated,” he added.
Leonardia said the city government is preparing the advance payment of 20 percent, as per contract, of the total cost of 650,000 doses of vaccines it will procure from AstraZeneca.
“We make sure the city will settle the payment before the deadline to ensure that we get the delivery of the vaccines starting the third quarter of this year,” the Bacolod mayor added.