Pangilinan: Senate hearing to clarify plan, deliverables in govt vaccination program

SENATOR Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Sunday said the scheduled Monday Senate Committee of the Whole hearing intends to clarify the government vaccination plan and deliverables.

"Ang layunin ng Senate Committee of the Whole ay para mapag-usapan at maipaalam sa publiko ang buong plano ng gobyerno sa pagpapabakunaha ng mga Pilipino," said Pangilinan, who on December 14 filed Senate Resolution 594 asking the Senate Committee of the Whole to look into the government national Covid-19 vaccination program.

"Parang nasa pressure cooker tayong lahat habang walang maayos na plano para masugpo ang Covid. Nag-bi-build up ang pressure dahil sa limitadong paggalaw na dikta ng mga quarantine restrictions. Marami nang kabuhayan ang nawala at mga negosyong nagsara. Deserve ng ating mga mamamayan malaman ang kongkreto at malinaw na plano ng pamahalaan para sa pag-roll-out ng vaccine," he added.

Top government and non-government medical experts top-bill the Senate Committee of the Whole hearing on the government vaccination program scheduled at 10 a.m., Monday, January 11.

Invited to attend the hearing requested by Pangilinan are: Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Vaccine Czar; Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe from World Health Organization; Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles; Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, chair of Covid-19 National Task Force; Health Secretary Francisco Duque; Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez; Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.;

Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado; Budget Undersecretary for Procurement Service Lloyd Christopher Lao; Science Secretary Fortunato De La Peña, Interior and Local Government Secretary Aduardo Año; Secretary Vivencio Dizon, Testing Czar and Deputy Chief Implementer of the Inter-Agency Task Force for Managing Emerging Diseases (IATF); and Food and Drug Administration Director General Ronaldo Domingo.

Invited medical experts from the private sector are: Dr. Benito Atienza, President of the Philippine Medical Association; Ms. Rosie De Leon, RN, National President of the Philippine Nurses Association; and Mr. Rommel Saceda, RMT, President of the Philippine Association of Medical Technologists Inc.

Pangilinan said the hearing will give Filipinos a clear picture of the government's roadmap to obtain the vaccines and the resources needed to secure doses for the people.

"Dapat ay ligtas at epektibo ang ibibigay nating bakuna sa ating mga mamamayan. Importante itong Committee of the Whole dahil dito pag-uusapan kung paano makakarating sa bawat mamamayan ang vaccine. Maraming umaasa dito, buhay ng milyon-milyon at nakataya dito ang pag-recover ng ekonomiya at kabuhayan ng marami sa atin," he said.

In the privilege speech where he called for a Senate Committee of the Whole hearing, Pangilinan said a program of this magnitude will not succeed without the people.

"A massive rollout of this vaccination program needs an effective information and dissemination campaign to make it work especially since a recent survey revealed that almost half are unwilling to be vaccinated," Pangilinan said, citing the Pulse Asia survey between November 23 and December 2 which showed that 47 percent would not get themselves vaccinated, with 84 percent of them saying safety is a major issue.

"The country needs clear and concrete action steps and deliverables in a vaccination program that our citizens can trust and believe in. It is incumbent upon government to provide this. We need specific deliverables," he added.

The government's total budget for the Covid-19 vaccination program is P82.5 billion, with P72.5 billion from the 2021 General Appropriations Act and P10 billion from Republic Act 11494 or Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2).

At the same time, various local government units (LGUs) as well as big business conglomerates have started to allocate budget for the procurement of vaccines for their constituents.

According to the Department of Health, the top priority for vaccination are frontline health workers both in the public and private sectors, senior citizens, and impoverished Filipinos.