Bayan Muna Representative Ferdinand Gaite said National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 head and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. is being "selective" in calling for a probe on the vaccination of their colleague, Quezon Rep. Angelina "Helen" Tan.
(Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdie Gaite Facebook / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
"Selective itong si Carlito Galvez sa kung sino lang ang dapat imbestigahan (Carlito Galvez is being selective on who should be investigated)," Gaite said in an online press briefing on Thursday, March 4. "Pero 'yong nangyari sa PSG, wala pa. 'Yong mga VIP officials na inamin ni Pangulong Duterte, wala pa (While there is no investigation yet on what happened with the Presidential Security Group. Those VIP officials who already got the vaccines as President Duterte admitted)," he noted.
Tan, chairperson of the House committee of health, was the first lawmaker known to have legally received a COVID-19 jab from the government, using the Sinovac vaccines donated by China to the Philippines.
Tan, who is also a doctor, said her vaccination was part of the allocation for her son, who is a surgeon at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC).
But Galvez, in an interview over DZBB, said there is no such directive and that the initial vaccine supply was set aside for frontline health workers.
"Mali po 'yon (That was wrong), we will investigate on that just in case mayroon pong nangyaring gano'n (such an incident happened)," he was quoted as saying in the interview.
Gaite, however, said: "Hindi pwedeng selective (You cannot be selective). There should be no sacred cows. Sabihin nating 'sacred pigs' kasi parang binababoy 'yong sistema ng pagva-vaccine (Let's call them sacred pigs because they are messing up our system for vaccination)," he said.
His fellow Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate, for his part, said policies for dependents of health workers should be clarified.
"While she can also be considered as a frontliner, as a health worker -- dahil siya ay isang doktor -- syempre kailangan malinaw ang patakaran nito (because she is a doctor -- of course there should be a clear policy on this)," Zarate said.
"Maging sensitibo din tayo, dahil nga sa mga nangyari sa nakaraan lalong lalo na na nagkaroon ng VIP treatment doon sa mga myembro ng ilang Gabinete (We should be sensitive, too, because of the VIP treatment to some Cabinet members)," he added.
"So 'yon po ang ating panawagan dyan. Kung magkakaroon ng imbestigasyon, syempre kailangan maging transparent tayo dahil wala naman hong dapat magiging espesyal kahit na ikaw ay myembro ng Gabinete o myembro ng Kongreso. Dahil malinaw po ang prioritization na inilatag ng DOH at ng IATF kung sino ang unang makakatanggap nitong bakuna (So that's our appeal. If there will be an investigation, we should be transparent because no one should be treated special even if you are a member of the Cabinet or the Congress. Because the prioritization set by the Department of Health and the Interagency Task Force has been clear on who should received the vaccines first)," Zarate said.
Last December, President Duterte bared that several people in government , including members of PSG, were already immunized against COVID-19 using a vaccine that has not yet been approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
PSG chief Brig. Gen. Jesus Durante III confirmed this, saying their personnel have been given the vaccine shots as early as September. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also admitted that he vaccines used were "smuggled" into the country.
The FDA recently lamented facing a "blank wall" in its investigation on the illegal vaccination of the PSG, which was previously defended by Duterte himself.