Almost a year after it happened the first time, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said that the Philippines "dropped the ball again" and missed out on coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine donations from the United States.
Locsin took his disappointment to Twitter on Saturday afternoon, December 11, saying he was now starting to see a pattern.
"We dropped the ball again; this time offer of 50 million syringes," he said.
"First Pfizer, then Moderna. Ok, I see the pattern," he added.
According to Locsin, he was the one who discussed the donations with the United States but Philippine agencies concerned on the matter did not even bother talking about it.
"Discussed the need in Washington DC and got a response prepared to go into details with PH agencies but they refused to discuss the ball let alone catch it," he said.
We dropped the ball again; this time offer of 50 million syringes. Discussed the need in Washington DC and got a response prepared to go into details with PH agencies but they refused to discuss the ball let alone catch it. First Pfizer, then Moderna. Ok, I see the pattern.
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) December 11, 2021
This was not the first time Locsin disclosed that the Philippines "dropped the ball" on COVID-19 vaccines that the US was supposed to donate to the Philippines.
In December last year, Locsin said he and Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel "Babe" Romualdez were able to secure 10 million Pfizer vaccine doses that were supposed to arrive in the country by January 2021 until "someone dropped the ball."
Days later, he told CNN Philippines that it was Health Secretary Francisco Duque III who had "dropped the ball" on the country's negotiations to secure vaccines from the American pharmaceutical company.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, later on, claimed that Duque failed to work on the necessary documents, particularly on the confidential disclosure agreement on time.
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Duque denied the allegations, saying there were no negotiations to speak of.