President Duterte has endorsed the establishment of a "green lane" to hasten the processing of permits for companies planning to manufacture vaccines in the country.
According to the President, the swift and efficient government transactions should be the "bible" for concerned agencies.
Duterte made the statement after Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez reported that four companies have expressed interest in setting up vaccine manufacturing sites in the country. The pharmaceutical companies, including United Laboratories (Unilab) and Glovax Biologics, have requested the setting up of a green lane for the fast processing of required permits, Lopez said.
"There’s a possibility na ‘yong mga kompanya na malaki na marunong, may alam, may pera, would put up manufacturing facilities in this country. Ito ‘yong mga bakuna na parang partnership (There's a possible that huge competent companies would up manufacturing facilities in this country. These are like the vaccine partnership)," the President said in a televised address Thursday, April 16.
"Ang hinihingi lang ni Mon Lopez, (Trade) Secretary Lopez is ito (Trade Secretary Mon Lopez is just asking for) assistance requested: Green lane on government permits. Will subscribe to all requirements and submit documents but need faster production," he said.
The President directed concerned agencies to cooperate and "give the meaning of every word in that sentence," referring to the need to improve the ease of doing business in the country. He lamented that the country has become one of the "laggards" due to the sluggish processing of government documents.
"That would be the Bible of government dito sa ano. Parang dasal natin ito sa gobyerno kasi historically, Philippines one of the laggard sabi nila (This is like our prayer in government because was because there’s a lot of paperworks and kung ano-anong hinihingi (and other documents being asked)," he said.
"That’s why I have cut processes down to the lowest level and ask everybody to cooperate," he added.
On the request for the government procurement of locally produced vaccines subject to standards, specifications and prices, the President said such processing should be easy if agencies would focus on the task at hand. He insisted that fast and efficient service was "the heart and soul of government operations."
"I don’t think it would take about one hour or trabahuin mo sa opisina. It’s a matter of preparation then going into the real McCoy of the actual procurement," he said.
In the presentation of Lopez to the President and other Cabinet members Thursday, Lopez mentioned that Unilab and Glovax were interested in manufacturing coronavirus vaccines in the country.
Lopez said Unilab could complete the manufacturing plant by 2023 if a partnership with a technology partner will be finalized by next year.
Glovax, on the other hand, has signed a deal with its South Korean technology partner for local vaccine manufacturing site in Clark by 2022. The project is estimated to cost P7.5 billion.
The country has so far secured more than 3 million doses of vaccines, mostly developed by Sinovac and AstraZeneca, that allowed the government to start its free inoculation drive last month.
The government aims to secure 140 million vaccines from various suppliers, including Novavax, Gamaleya, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson to inoculate 70 million Filipinos in order to attain herd immunity.
The President earlier admitted that the country faces a shortage of vaccine supply after rich countries have cornered most of the world’s stocks.