Dispatch from Crame No. 1160:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on Duterte's order to mix-up vaccine distribution

Duterte's order to mix-up the distribution and administration of vaccine brands in order to force the people to accept whatever vaccine is made available to them is unacceptable. It deprives the people of their recognized right to make an informed choice of what vaccine brand is to be injected into their body.

The choice of vaccine brand is personal. It cannot be forced by the State in some sort of a lottery, in the same way that it remains a right of everyone to choose whether to be vaccinated or not in the first place.

It is not the fault of the people if Duterte arbitrarily and without any medical rationale whatsoever favored the purchase of Chinese vaccines Sinovac and Sinopharm. It is not also their fault if the government slept, did nothing, or botched up deals when vaccine manufacturers started allocation of their projected stocks last year, relying instead on China's promise to donate and allocate stocks to the Philippines.

Napaka-iresponsable na tanggalin sa tao ang karapatan nilang pumili ng ituturok sa kanilang katawan. Pandemya man o hindi, hindi pa rin pagmamay-ari ng estado ang katawan ng bawat Pilipino. Ang bawat mamamayan pa rin ang pipili kung ano ang ituturok sa kanyang katawan, hindi ang estado, lalong lalo na hindi si Duterte. Huwag niyang ipasa ang masamang resulta ng kanyang pagpapabaya sa pagbili ng bakuna sa mamamayan.

Sampung bilyon ang ninakaw ng Davao Mafia sa Pharmally heist. Huwag nilang sabihin na walang pambili ng bakuna noong nakaraang taon. Imbes na pambili ng bakuna na mas mabisa sa Chinese vaccines, pinambili ng magagarang kotse ng kanilang mga kasabwat sa Pharmally ang pera ng taumbayan.

Dahil dito, hindi lamang kapabayaan ang pagpwersa sa mga tao na tanggapin ang Chinese vaccines, isa rin itong kawalanghiyaan.

(Access the handwritten version, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_from_crame_no._1160)