Senator Panfilo Lacson allayed concerns over availability of multibillion peso funding for minors’ anti-Covid vaccine, assuring that this is “amply covered by existing borrowings.”
The senator affirmed in a news statement issued on Friday that P57.3 billion in loans were already secured by the Duterte government for the procurement of vaccines to cover the P25 billion requirement for the vaccination of minors.
Citing updated figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Lacson added this indicates “only P30.462 billion may be needed to inoculate 68.2 million adult Filipinos this year.”
“Figures from the PSA as of March 28 this year shows the Philippines’ midyear population will reach 110,198,654 by July 1. Of this, 62 percent or 68.323 million are adults. If we multiply this by P446 per dose, including logistical costs, we will need about P30.472 billion to inoculate our adult Filipinos. Thus the difference of P26.83 billion is more than enough to cover the P25 billion requirement to procure the vaccines for our minors,” Lacson summed up.
He noted that based on these figures, we may not need to look for an additional P25 billion since it is amply covered by the “excess” in borrowings.”
Lacson added that “even if the government were to inoculate 83.8 million adults based on the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ (IATF) figures, at P446 per dose, including logistical requirements, it would only need P37.374 billion—still way below the P57.3 billion in borrowings.”
Citing assurance by the administration’s vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., Lacson recalled the official saying that “we have 68 million free doses of vaccines, including 44 million from the COVAX facility and 24 million from two brands.”
The senator stressed that “every peso counts and must be accounted for, especially during these difficult times,” reminding that “the IATF and Department of Finance should further clarify the figures that they presented during last Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole hearing.”
Lacson recalled that during the Senate Committee of the Whole hearing on the government’s vaccination program last June 15, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III reported to the senators that of the P88.6-billion budget to procure vaccines, P57.3 billion had been sourced through concessional loans from our multilateral partners.
Moreover, Lacson reminded that he and Senate President Vicente Sotto III agreed that with more than enough funds to achieve herd immunity for this year, the government should “focus more on ensuring the efficient rollout of the vaccines.”
At the same time, the senators are set to scrutinize agencies’ requests for additional budgets against the pandemic, including an additional P66 billion being requested by the Department of Health for pandemic response.
Lacson added: “First, they [agencies] will have to account for P660.1 billion which, according to the Department of Budget and Management, has been released to the agencies concerned for the overall Covid-19 response over the last 15 months or so.”
He reminded that “during these times when the country is almost neck deep in debt with an unprecedented P11 trillion in foreign and domestic borrowings, not to mention an alarmingly low revenue collection, every peso that comes from the treasury should count and made sure to be put to good use.”
The senator suggested the Duterte government should all the more do a “good job” of promoting trust in the vaccination process and maximizing limited resources to do so after Australia’s commitment to provide P480.2 million to procure additional Covid-19 vaccine jabs.
“We are very thankful to Australia for its gesture, which will go a long way for us Filipinos to get the jab done’ and be vaccinated from Covid-19. But more importantly, this should be an added motivation for the government to ‘get the job done’ by maximizing the use of our limited resources to promote public trust in the vaccination process. This includes using our resources wisely by getting the most accurate facts and figures possible,” Lacson said.
He recalled that on Thursday, Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Steven Robinson said Australia conveyed an added commitment of A$13.72 million (P480.2 million) for the Philippines to buy vaccines. Lacson said this new commitment is in addition to Australia’s support through the COVAX facility, to which Australia has contributed A$130 million, recalling the Philippines has received 5,025,870 doses from the COVAX facility.
This, as the ambassador also assured Australia’s Vaccine Response Plan for the Philippines has provided A$7.52 million in vaccine delivery support through the Unicef and World Health Organization.
Image credits: Senate PRIB