February 19, 2021 | 7:27 pm Font Size
PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS
HOUSE SPEAKER Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco said the proposed measure that will expedite the procurement of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines by local government units will be approved next week, with lawmakers rushing to pass the measure after President Rodrigo R. Duterte certified it as urgent.
“With President Rodrigo Roa Duterte certifying the measure as urgent, the House is expected to approve House Bill 8648 on second and third reading by Monday,” Mr. Velasco said in a statement on Friday.
House Bill 8648 or the proposed Emergency Vaccine Procurement Act of 2021 was filed earlier this month by Mr. Velasco. The bill was sponsored on the floor by Quirino Rep. Junie E. Cua and Albay Second District Rep. Jose Maria Clemente S. Salceda on Wednesday.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Sunday said it is imperative for Congress to establish mechanisms that would prevent politics from ruining the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program.
By ERWIN COLCOL, GMA News
Published February 11, 2021 1:28pm Government agencies on Thursday backed the Senate proposal which essentially allows local government units (LGUs) to expeditiously procure COVID-19 vaccines by exempting them on certain procurement requirements under the law. The Senate committee on finance was tackling Senate Bill 2042, introduced by Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, which expedites the purchase and administration of COVID-19 vaccines by exempting LGUs on provisions under the Government Procurement Reform Act. We hope to spare the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines from the tedious and circuitous procurement process, Zubiri said in his preliminary remarks during the hearing. With this exemption, we also hope to avoid adverse COA findings from being issued and graft cases from being filed against local government units and their officials, he added.
Published February 11, 2021, 10:31 PM Senator Juan Edgardo ‘’Sonny’’ M. Angara on Thursday, February 11, assured swift action by the Senate on a bill seeking to expedite the purchase and administration of COVID-19 vaccines by local government units (LGUs) by exempting them from the strict requirements of Republic Act 9184. or the Government Procurement Reform Act.
Sen. Sonny Angara
(Senate of the Philippines / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Angara, as chairman of the Committee on Finance, led the hearing on Senate Bill 2042 filed by Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, which would facilitate the procurement of vaccines by interested LGUs in the coming weeks and months.
By ERWIN COLCOL, GMA News
Published February 11, 2021 6:12pm The measure seeking to allow local government units (LGU) to speed up procurement of COVID-19 vaccines will only cause a maldistribution of vaccines based on capacity to pay, the spokesperson for an alliance of healthcare professionals said Thursday. During a Senate hearing, Dr. Antonio Dans of the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 expressed his opposition to Senate Bill 2042. The measure will serve as a legal cover allowing LGUs to expedite their procurement of COVID-19 vaccines by exempting them from provisions under the Government Procurement Reform Act. If local government units and private entities have the funds to procure vaccines for their constituents and employees, and the manufacturers are willing to deal with them, then let us give them the authority to do so, said Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, who sponsors the measure.