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February 17, 2021

On resources for COVID-19 vaccination: Sen. Pia Cayetano, chairperson of the Ways and Means Committee, says she is ‘baffled’ by the fact that despite the national government having the resources and the facilities to vaccinate the needed number of the population, local government units (LGUs) are still setting aside funding to vaccinate their own constituents. During the period of interpellations on Senate Bill No. 2057 or the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021, Wednesday, February 17, 2021, Cayetano said this should be made clear to LGUs so that funds could be used for other aspects of the vaccination or the whole healthcare or recovery from COVID program. “If we really care about our resources, shouldn’t somebody be taking a position and saying, look LGUS, we can assure you that we can purchase this and deliver to you sooner than later … for them to be able to think about this because like I said, nobody questioned their desire to make it available for their frontliners and the most vulnerable of their population but I just feel there's lack of coordination,” Cayetano said. (Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB)

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