SBG dares Duque, Galvez, to “volunteer” for COVID-19 injection

SENATOR Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go, challenged Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III and presidential peace adviser and concurrent ‘Vaccine Czar’ Carlito Galvez, to step up to the plate and “volunteer” to have themselves the first to be injected with an anti-COVID-19 vaccine “to allay” public fears on any vaccine’s safety and efficacy.

At the opening last Saturday, December 5, 2020, of the ‘Mindanao Media Hub’ in Davao City, Go, in a talk with the media, aired the apprehension of most Filipinos on the safety issues surrounding the vaccines being developed abroad aimed at finally ending the COVID-19 pandemic.

“May mga nag-aalangan pa kaya dapat unahin natin ang safety ng vaccine na ito.

“That is why I’m challenging Secretary Galvez once safe na ipapakita niya, along with Secretary Duque, na sila muna ang magpapaturok ng vaccine once proven safe to encourage [the people],” Go said.

“(This is) to encourage naman po at mawala ang takot ng mga tao, pero dapat unahin natin ang poor, vulnerable, and frontliners, of course.

“Sila ang nangunguna sa labang ito — sundalo, guro, medical workers.

Huwag rin natin pabayaan ang mga senior citizens natin na vulnerable and, especially, ang mga mahihirap na kailangan lumabas at magtrabaho — dapat po libre ito sa mahihirap,” Go also stressed.

Go said that a national vaccine roadmap has already been prepared for a systematic distribution of the vaccine once it is deemed safe and effective.

He encouraged concerned agencies to properly communicate and implement the vaccine program to assure the public that the government is doing its best to restore normalcy amid the ongoing pandemic.

In the same event, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Wendel Avisado said they are now anticipating the need for a larger budget to procure sufficient vaccines for the country’s population.

“Yan ang laging pinag-uusapan namin ni Senator Bong dahil siya ang chair ng Committee on Health.

Kami naman, ina-anticipate namin na kailangan ng mas malaking pondo ‘yan.

“Sa ngayon, meron tayong naka-standby na P10 bilyon sa ‘Bayanihan 2 (Law)’ for the procurement of vaccine.

“Sa susunod na taon, under the National Expenditure Program (NEP), meron lang nakalagay doon na P2.5 bilyon na initial na budget for the procurement,” Avisado shared.

A day before Saturday’s event, Go was in San Fernando City, La Union, where he graced the opening of the country’s 94^th ‘Malasakit Center’ located at the Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center.

The center is the first in La Union but already the third center to be opened in the Ilocos region.

“Ang Malasakit Center po ay para sa lahat ng mga Pilipino, lalo na ang mga poor and indigent patients. Lapitan niyo lang ang Malasakit Center, nandyan na ang apat na ahensya ng gobyerno—DSWD, PCSO, PhilHealth at DOH—na handang tumulong sa inyo para maging zero balance na ang billing ninyo.

“Ang Malasakit Center po ay batas na (RA 11463) at mayroon na tayong 94 all over the country,” explained Go during his speech.

Release AHDP, SRA, or…

Speaking on behalf of the country’s medical frontliners, Go also issued a veiled threat to the DOH to immediately release the active hazard duty pay (AHDP) and special risk allowance (SRA) of frontline health workers, which is mandated under RA 11494 or the “Bayanihan to Recover as One Act”.

The senator warned he would speak out until healthcare workers who have been at the frontlines of the pandemic receive the compensation due to them. He expressed his openness to consider calls for an investigation into the delay to hold accountable negligent officials.

“Hindi po ako titigil kung kailangan magsalita ako araw-araw at ibubulong ko kay Pangulo [Rodrigo] Duterte …. kasuhan kung mayroong talagang may kasalanan.

“Ako po ay nananawagan na ‘wag niyo na pong tagalan. Hindi pa ba kayo nadala?

“Mayroon nang nasuspinde ang Ombudsman [dahil sa] delay ng release ng financial assistance ng namatay na mga medical doctors,” Go pointed out.