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No Concrete Plan on Vaccination: Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto during the hybrid plenary session Wednesday, December 9, 2020, says he is surprised that the executive branch did not reach out to the bicameral conference committee to present the appropriation needed to purchase COVID-19 vaccines and the logistical cost requirement to inoculate the public next year. In discussing the 2021 national budget bicameral conference committee report, Sen. Sonny Angara said he was not aware of the details of the government’s plan on vaccination but reported that a total of P72.5 billion was allocated for vaccines, P70 billion of which is part of the unprogrammed appropriations for 2021. “I was hoping that during the bicam, the executive would talk to both chairs and I was thinking that they would be making a request. More so today that we see that roll out has begun and you need to make advance payments for these vaccines,” Recto said. He expressed hope that the allocation was properly included in the budget so there would be no delay in procuring the vaccines and inoculating the 70 percent target of the population. (Screen grab/ Senate PRIB)